The Secretary
by lolarose2012
Summary: Thalia Grace has found herself in a sticky situation. She just found out that she has a brother who she now has to take care of, but there's one little problem. She doesn't have a suitable job. When, by chance, she is stuck working for one of the sexiest men alive, how easy is it going to be for them to keep their relationship strictly professional.
1. Chapter 1

**Hey, **

**Hope you like, Read and review!**

**Most characters belong to Rick Riordan**

**Thalia**

Thalia didn't know what to do, as she walked down the streets of New York to her apartment. She was twenty three years old and she was suddenly faced with the task of taking care of a brother she never knew she had. It wasn't that she hated or resented the boy, never, but it was more of the problem that she was in her graduate school trying to get a degree in business management. She had to work a night job to even pay for her tuition.

So now how was she supposed to afford paying for herself and her brother? Why was her life so messed up? She only had a year left of school and now she was probably going to have to take some time out to take care of him. She walked passed a huge sky scraper which she knew was the New York headquarters of Uncle Pluto's Gem emporium.

The story of how that business began was one of the most told stories in the world, in fact there have been films and books based on it.

Thalia thought it was a sweet story; it all began twenty one years ago in Milan, Italy. Mr Henry Pluto Di Angelo was in his home with his sweet four year old son. The man was struck with grief because he had just lost his father only two years after the loss of his wife. In his father's last will and testament he had been left with all the mines and wealth which his family had had for years and years. One day he was sitting talking to his son, one of the last members of his family left alive and he asked, "My darling son, what do I do with all these riches? It won't bring back your mother or sister I believe I should sell them" his soon looked him in the eyes and held the locket his mother gave him, "papa don't sell, make plenty more like this and have your own big shop!"

That is how the idea to form the emporium was formed. Now it had the widest range of jewellery in the largest selection of gems, precious stones and semi-precious stones. Twenty one years down the line, he is one of the most prominent business men in the world thanks to his little son.

Thalia noticed an ad on the window which said,

'_Secretary/ Personal Assistant to hire, please call this number ASAP' _and it had a number typed in bold under it.

She needed a new job anyway so why not?

An hour later she sat in her room and began to hunt for an outfit for her job interview tomorrow. She stood at the mirror and nodded in approval at the outfit she had on; it was a sleek black dress with a pencil skirt lining and a nice fitted but business looking top. Her only expensive pair of black Manolo heels served to accentuate her look and make her look longer and lither.

* * *

The next morning she woke with a start and realised she was going to be late. She ran round the room multitasking as she pulled on her clothes and stuffed items in her bag simultaneously.

She praised herself for managing to get ready in ten minutes flat and she grabbed a cab as soon as she stepped out of her building. The ride to her interview was not long but it was nerve wracking as she knew she was already late.

Once she arrived at the emporium she dashed into the lift and hit the fiftieth floor, not fully realising just how high up that was. She calmed herself and walked out into the reception area. The woman there took one look at her and smiled a dazzling smile,

"Hello, I'm Katie may I help you?"

"Yes hi, I'm Thalia and I'm supposed to be having a job interview here today although I am a bit late."

"Oh that's fine; the boss doesn't usually get here till around noon on a Friday anyway. I'll be the one handling your interview." She said as she grabbed a file from her desk and motioned for me to follow her.

We walked into a conference room with a large black table in the middle and plush swivel chairs scattered all around it. They both sat on the chairs across the table from each other,

"Now Miss Grace, I just want to ask you a few questions. Have you ever been convicted?" Thalia shook her head, "Do you have any qualifications?"

"Yes, I have an undergraduate degree in Classics and Economics; I am now in graduate school studying business management." She responded,

"But if you have that, I'm guessing you need this job to pay tuition" Katie questioned while writing and Thalia just nodded,

"That's excellent you have the job. I'll fill you in on the boss's daily routine. He handles most of his meetings himself and he's a great guy. But he does like efficient smart and initiative driven people working for him."

Thalia simply nodded, "so do I start now?"

"Yes dear, I'm his receptionist I send people in and out. You handle any other things he may need photocopies, tea, sodas, lunch, and a date whatever it is.

"You make it sound like I'm his dog or something?"

The receptionist looked at her, "But my dear Thalia, yes you are. Now come and let me show you to his table and where you can get his favourite coffee and pastries."

Thalia was stunned; she didn't like the idea of being any ones toy but this job paid way more than her night job and she could now take classes that were later in the day and still have time for her brother on most days.

"Thalia, you work every day from eight till four, boss doesn't usually get here till nine and has most of his work at home so he leaves early anyway. You may need to go to his home sometimes to help him out there with getting him files and any other errands you may need to run. Here he'll tell you anything he needs to do and fill you in on his schedule for the day so you know what to do with his calls." Katie continued speaking as she showed Thalia to her desk and pointed at the phone,

"I deal with all the letting people in or out of the floor but you deal with the waiting area. Anyone who doesn't have an appointment doesn't get through me unless boss gives special permission and all you have to do is wait for boss to give you a call and tell you to send whoever it is in." She walked into the office and Thalia followed her eyes widening at the sight of it.

It was huge and it had a large sofa facing a giant flat screen television. Behind all that and in front of the massive windows was a giant black desk. It was the classic image of a successful business man's office.

"There is a door behind there which leads to his private room where he eats lunch and relaxes. It is cleaned regularly but you have to ensure the food there is fresh every day." Katie pointed to a glass window pane but all Thalia saw was the view of New York,

"uh Katie, That's a glass window pane."

She looked back, shook her head at me and then walked over to the glass and opened it. It led into another large room with a huge bed, a couch and a TV and sound system.

There was also a kitchen and one last door I saw I assumed was a bathroom or a closet.

I whistled, "This is a very nice pad," I commented.

"Yes, Mr Di Angelo uses it for those particularly horrid nights where he's up till around two or three managing any problems with the business." Katie said while she studied the refrigerator.

"Come over here Thalia," She waved me over, "This is his fridge. Now, I took the liberty of stocking everything yesterday, so I need you to listen carefully."

She closed the fridge and walked to the black island table in the middle of the kitchen. "Mr Di Angelo loves to cook and from what I hear he's pretty good at it too. So, there are certain ingredients that you have to ensure are fresh every two days like his vegetables and other perishables. The rest could be there for a week but never more. You also have to make sure you ask him every day if there's anything he would like you to order for him." Katie looked at the clipboard she was holding and surveyed it for a few minutes and then she left the area and head back into the office.

She walked through the secret door, or window pane then stood in the office, "Nico also requires his secretaries or PA's on business trips but that is in very rare situations." I was now very confused, who the hell was Nico, I thought I was working for Pluto Di Angelo.

Katie noticed my confusion and stopped her sentence to ask, "Is there a problem Thalia?"

"Yeah, I thought I was working for Pluto Di Angelo, founder of this fine multi-billion dollar company you work at?" I stretched out my arms above my head to emphasise my point.

Katie's mouth formed a perfect "O"and she chuckled, "No darling, you're working for Nico"

"Who's Nico" I asked sounding exasperated,

"I am" A male voice came from the door, I looked at the person standing there and my eyes widened then, as if that wasn't bad enough, my heart almost stopped.


	2. Chapter 2

**Next Chapters upp,,**

**Anyone with plot idea's pleeease leave a review to tell me. I'll pick the best one.**

She didn't know if she was drooling (although it was very likely) but she was sure her mouth was open and she was staring at this, this _god_ standing before her in all his greatness.

Her mouth closed then opened again, but she still didn't snap out of her trance despite the amused look on her boss's face.

"Katie, who is this lovely person gaping at me?" he asked, _That _made her snap out of it.

"Oh um, I'm sorry about that, I was expecting someone less, you know, young." _I was thinking more along the lines of "so damn sexy I would do you even if you were married" but I guess young would suffice. _I smiled slightly.

He laughed at that, "Sorry to disappoint but I've been running this for the past year now while my father, who I guess you were expecting, runs the rest of the offshore business in Milan and the rest of Europe. My father never liked New York much, only came here because of his family. Nevertheless, it's a pleasure to meet you but I need to get settled in. Katie please finish Miss…," he looked at me and I filled in the blank, "Grace" he smiled and continued talking to Katie, "Please finish Miss Grace's orientation."

"Of course sir, right this way Thalia." Katie motioned towards the door with a devilish smirk on her face.

Once we were outside Katie giggled, "Your face was priceless, I swear I could practically see your pupils dilate." I looked at her in horror, "Could you really?"

She raised an eyebrow at my worried tone, "What? No I was just kidding. It's like a figure of speech."

I sighed in relief and mumbled, "That's what you think." Unfortunately for me, she heard that and burst out laughing, "Has that ever happened to you?" she asked and when I didn't answer she continued to giggle.

"That is so epic Grace" she said as she wiped an imaginary tear drop off her face. I rolled my eyes at her theatrics, "Whatever Katie, gosh you are so mean! Are you telling me you never found him attractive?"

"Oh, not really," she answered nonchalantly as she sat in my desk and swivelled herself in my swirly chair. I was leaning against the wall with my legs and arms crossed and I raised an eyebrow. "Am I the only one who noticed he looks like the Italian personification of sex?"

Katie giggled, "Well the thing is, the week before I started working here I met this guy at a party and we flirted and all that. I thought he was ridiculously fit, I mean seriously if I could have, I would have done him in the bathroom of the club but alas, it was not meant to be.

We had so much sexual tension between us that every time we saw each other, which was a lot in that week, we both nearly exploded. But we never slept together for reasons still unknown to me. We talked a lot, met up almost every day and never kissed or anything.

Then, the day of my interview I'm riding up the elevator with all the horniness from that week bottled up inside me. The elevator stops at floor five and a whole surge of people come in. suddenly I'm pressing up against this guy and my ass is on his crotch at the back of the elevator. He moves up against me and whisper's into my ear, "Hi Katie," When I notice it's the guy, His name is Travis by the way, I immediately press, myself into him and promptly give him a raging hard on."

I raised my eyebrows at the direction of this story, surprised not only because she did such, but also because she had only met me thirty minutes ago and she was already sharing such intimate details with me.

"Well, one thing led to another and we ended up screwing on Nico's desk while he was out at a briefing. Let me tell you, it was the best sex I'd ever had, EVER." Katie's eyes glazed over and she had a wistful look on her face.

"Wow! Okay, um too much information there, way too much information!" I shouted trying to get the image of Katie being fucked out of my head. Katie just laughed at my reaction and she didn't stop laughing till the phone on my desk rang and she immediately straightened out and picked it up.

"Hello, Mr Di Angelo how may I help you?" I was stunned at how her demeanour had changed from being relaxed and in fits of laughter, to being completely serious in a matter of seconds, no milliseconds, it was so weird. I honestly hoped my new friend at the office wasn't some bipolar freak, now that would suck. I shuddered at the thought and Katie just raised her eyebrow.

"I'll put her on the line right now sir, Yes sir." She nodded as she passed me the phone.

For you, she mouthed as I grabbed onto the receiver trying, but failing, to wipe my sweaty palms on my skirt at the same time. "H-Hello sir?" I winced as I realised that my voice sounded more like a squeak which was so not on. I cleared my throat, "Hello Miss Grace, I'd like to see you in my office now so we can get acquainted." "Yes sir, I'll be right in."

I mentally patted myself on the back for sounding so professional and confident then I walked into his office and strode halfway before stopping. He seemed to notice I wasn't in front of his desk yet because he looked up and beckoned me over. I walked the rest of the way with him watching me with those intense black eyes. "Please have a seat," his voice came, smooth and deep, calm and sexy at the same time.

I sank into one of the black leather chairs and crossed my legs. He stood up and walked around his table, "So Thalia, I hear you have a double major classics and Economics degree from NYU and you are now about to begin your final year for Business and management at Columbia. You took this job to help support your little brother and yourself?"

I nodded, "I hope you don't mind, I like to get to know the people I am going to be working closely with before I start trusting them." I shook my head unable to find my voice, I knew what was going to come next and I didn't want to endure it but I had to, _for Jason. _

I'm just going to ask you a few personal questions if you don't mind. "How old is Jason?"

"He's Fifteen," His looked confused, "Why did you only find out about him recently?"

"Because he was in a foster home before that, my mother separated us when he was born and put him in care. Recently it was discovered that his foster parents were druggies so naturally, I was contacted."

He just nodded and didn't pry any more than that as if he could sense that I didn't want to share that much with him. "Since I pried into your private life, you get to pry into mine. I will answer any three personal questions you have"

I was surprised; so far I was very impressed with my boss. I had previously harboured this suspicion that he would be a stuck up jerk face because he was so rich and so attractive, but he seemed like a pretty down to earth guy. "Any siblings?" I asked lamely, while observing him. He was tall, about six foot three, and he was well built. He was muscular and you could see it through his white Emporio Armani suit shirt; his arms bulged slightly and his pecks were sufficiently prominent.

His face was smooth and his olive skin tone only made his sparkling white teeth stand out more. He had stubble on his chin and it gave him that sexy rugged look that he managed to pull off so well. His hair was oiled back in a smooth sheen that finished of his professional look perfectly.

"I have no siblings, the only one I had died a long while back. She was one of the inspirations for this company you know" he looked sad and I felt the urge to wrap him in a hug, but that would be very inappropriate. I just nodded and he sighed, "Well, what's in the past is in the past. Next question"

I smiled devilishly, "How old were you when you lost your virginity and how old was she?" He smirked at me, "That is one of the best one's I've ever heard, for that I'll even let go of the fact that it was two questions." I smiled coyly, "Well, how old were you?" I asked as I leaned forward to look at him.

"I was fifteen and she was eighteen" I opened my eyes and mouth in shock. "Really was she that desperate?" He looked mock offended, "Hey! She thought I was older than I was and so she slept with me." I just threw my head back and laughed at him. He was chuckling too when suddenly his phone rang. I took that as my cue to leave, "I'll give you a rain check on that last question" he said as I walked round his table to pick up the phone. I smiled, "Sure thing boss," before walking out of his office.

About thirty minutes later I was walking through the streets of New York for on my first errand to Nico's best friend who had left his wallet at home and was on a lunch date with his girlfriend. Apparently if this girlfriend found out about this, his best friend wouldn't be getting any sex for the next month and a half.

In my pocket was a black credit card which Nico had assured me that if I tried to steal, I would be in jail for so long I wouldn't even remember what New York looked like when I came out.

I tried not to be too offended by this because I was a new employee after all so it would be expected that he doesn't trust me that much yet, especially not with his bank details. I walked into Café Soleil and spotted his best friend immediately. I almost whistled out loud, his best friend was just as hot as he was. I wonder what it was like having two of them in the same school. When the dirty images began to penetrate my skull, I shook myself out of the fantasy involving Nico and strode up to the table.

"Percy, Percy Jackson?" I said slipping into character, "It's me Thalia Grace. I haven't seen you in forever!" I said as his face contorted from confusion to relief. He stood up to give me a hug and whispered, "Thanks so much" into my ear as I slipped the credit card into his pocket.

"Thalia, how have you been? Are you still enjoying your course at Columbia?" he asked looking genuinely surprised to see me. "Yeah, I responded, it's absolutely great. Is this your girlfriend, Annabeth right?"

Annabeth looked kind of sceptic but smiled charmingly all the same.

"Yes, Thalia this is Annabeth my girlfriend, and Annabeth this is Thalia um Nico's girlfriend."

Annabeth looked surprised, "Oh, since when?"

"The day before yesterday officially, but we had been fooling around before that; that's how Percy and I met." I lied smoothly; I looked at my watch and wore a bashful smile.

"I'm so sorry I have to run, I promised I would see Nico in a few minutes and he won't be happy if I'm any later than I am. Bye guys, Enjoy Lunch and it was nice to meet you Annabeth!" I said as I dashed out of the Café and back to the office.

I knocked on Nico's door before I entered, "Mission accomplished sir, but we have a slight set back. Your wonderfully intelligent friend told Annabeth that I was your girlfriend"

He seemed surprised by my bravery and I seemed to have his attention as soon as I entered the room this time. I noticed as his eyes raked slowly down my body as I walked towards him. I shivered slightly just from his gaze and I could feel the dull throbbing reverberating from my core, right down to the tips of my fingers and my toes.

There was silence as I walked the rest of the length to his desk. "So sir what are we going to do about this little problem" He shrugged and stood up to walk towards me. I could feel my body heating up. He leaned on his table and crossed his legs; he was a mere five steps away from me. "What do you suggest we do?" his eyes weren't on mine anymore, they were everywhere else; my lips, my breasts, my legs.

I had to control myself, "If you don't mind sir, I need to get home to make sure Jason has some food to eat." He blinked twice, as if he just snapped out of a trance and nodded. "See you Monday" he said. "Thank you sir" I replied.


	3. Chapter 3

The next week came and went very quickly and the routine didn't change throughout the entire week. It went something like this;

Wake up – 0630

Get Jason up – 0640

Make breakfast – 0650 till 0710

Eat breakfast with Jason – 0710 till 0735

Jason leaves for school – 0740

I get into the shower – 0800

I leave the house – 0820

I get to the office after buying ingredients and breakfast for boss – 0900

I leave the office – 1700

Get to home to make Jason food – 1715

Leave home for classes - 1730

Return home – 2100

Do homework and study – 2110-2300

I sat at my desk typing furiously trying to finish an assignment that Mr Di Angelo gave to me. The phone rang and it was the special ringtone programmed for the boss. "Hello sir, how may I help you?"

"Hi Thalia, could you come into the kitchen briefly? Thank you." And then he dropped the phone.

I sat for a moment trying to imagine what that was about but I couldn't think of anything so I stood up, straightened out the skirt of the grey peplum dress I was wearing and walked through his office into his mini apartment.

"You called sir?" I asked as I walked into the kitchen where he stood with his back to me chopping something up.

"Yes um, you're working on drawing up a new file for our new client right?" he asked as he glanced at me briefly.

"Yes sir, I was just finishing the details of the tanzanite's specifics." I answered unsure of where this was going.

"Okay that's good. Anyway on to what I wanted you for, I am making this special type of pasta for dinner and I forgot to ask you to buy a couple of stuff. Could you possibly write down the ingredients as I call them out?" he said as he dropped his chopping knife and placed what he had chopped into a bowl beside the counter top

"There's paper on there if you need some" he motioned towards the island table behind him.

I reached out, not noticing the hot kettle beside my arm and tried to get the paper. Unfortunately, my elbow touched the surface of the boiling kettle and I recoiled my arm swiftly, "Ouch, shit!" I exclaimed as I rubbed my elbow gingerly.

Nico swirled round very quickly and briskly walked round the table to where I was standing. He took my wrist and electricity shot up and down my spine and then round my body. He hesitated for a second, like he felt it too, and then he stretched out my hand to survey the damage.

My breath hitched as he lightly ran his fingers across my arm to where the burn was and pressed it gingerly. I winced slightly and let out a small whimper. He moved closer to me and then looked into my eyes, his eyes were clouded and his gaze intense. I sincerely hoped my pupils weren't dilating in front of him because every other part of my body was reacting, so strongly, to just his close presence.

We stood there for about twenty seconds just looking into each other's lust filled eyes. The electricity was fizzing between us and the attraction was so thick I swear I could see it. My body yearned for nothing more than it yearned for his, my body wanted to be filled, to feel the friction, the pressure and the coiling at the base of my stomach. Suddenly his phone rang and the moment was broken. I looked away and he slowly lowered and then let go of my hand as he walked to his cell phone.

He picked up the call and began talking to someone; I assumed it was an older client from his formal, yet charming tone. He walked to the freezer and took out an ice pack which he handed to me. I took it from his grasp without looking at him and placed it over my wound.

Once he was done on the phone he stood on the other side of the island table and watched me intently, "How's the burn?"

"It is okay, the ice made it feel a lot better thanks." I said trying to avoid his gaze.

"Good, so um don't worry about the groceries, and I'm sorry about your arm. I do have a favour to ask you though." He said smiling slightly.

I unconsciously narrowed my eyes, "What is this favour sir?"

"The woman whose tanzanite we're buying is rich old lady. She just called me and said she'd like to meet who she's giving her "baby" to. She's having a dinner party and would love if I came."

"What does this have to do with me then?" I asked not liking where this was going?

"I was hoping you would come with me?" he said framing it as a question.

"Why me? I'm just the secretary/PA whom you met a week and a half ago." I asked getting slightly suspicious of his odd request.

"The thing is, it's tonight and I don't think I'll be able to get another date on such short notice." He responded as he ran his hand through his hair.

I raised an eyebrow, "And I don't have a life to live? If this is what this job entails being your piece of show off ass when you can't find another one, then take this as my resignation. Have a good evening sir."

I walked out of his apartment and straight to my cubicle. I packed up all my things and walked to the reception where Katie was. "Leaving early today Thalia?" she asked in surprise.

"I didn't know Nico there was such an ass, I guess I was wrong about him. See you another time Katie."

**NICO**

Nico stood there and watched in shock as his secretary walked out of the apartment. _That had gone completely wrong_, he thought.

He unconsciously watched the swish of her hips as she strode away from him. He remembered the first time he saw her standing in his office.

He had walked into his office only to see her there with her short black hair, beautiful slim frame and long legs, standing, mouth agape, and looking at him. He had wanted nothing more than to take her right there and then. He hadn't felt such a primal, raw lust for any woman in a very long time and his body was just itching to impale itself in her.

Later when she had walked into his office, the fantasies of him with her legs wrapped around his waist as she moaned his name had manifested themselves in his brain and he had to concentrate just to make sure his semi erection didn't become a raging boner and after the conversation they had. It was much harder than he had anticipated.

Through the entire week, her unintentional ministrations had ensured he spent a healthy amount of time in the bathroom trying to relieve his bouts of lust without getting blue balls. She was driving him _crazy_ and he was sure he would do something very stupid soon enough. He had come pretty damn close tonight because he had been so close to taking her right in his kitchen.

Regardless of the fact that he was on the verge of committing a federal crime, he had to apologise to her and make her come back. He hadn't had such a good secretary in so long and he really enjoyed their work banter,_ even though every time she enters the room you get hard_, he thought to himself.

He sighed to himself. It seems he'll just have to grace the dinner part alone but first he had to apologise to Thalia.

I wasn't surprised when I walked out of my office to see Thalia's desk clear. I went back into my office and grabbed my jacket and things and then I walked up to Katie.

"What did you do to Thalia?" she asked straight out. I'd been friends with Katie for too long to try and use my authority to get her to shut up so I told her the story, leaving the part where I really wanted to have sex with her in my kitchen out of course.

She nodded and scribbled something down on a paper then handed it to me, I was confused, "That's her address and number, and you know she really needs this job but she's too prideful to say it so just go beg her to come back"

I smiled at Katie, "I love you very much. I promise to buy you something nice for Christmas." She smiled back at me and said "You better" but I was already in the elevator as I made my way to Thalia's house.


	4. Chapter 4

NICO

I stood outside Thalia's door in an apartment complex which looked like it had seen better days. The walls were scattered with areas which lacked paint and I wasn't sure I wanted to know what exactly stained the carpets. The door was secluded; the only other door on that floor was at the other side of the stairs and a wall blocked their line of vision.

I took a deep breath and rang the doorbell. Behind the door I could just make out the sound of someone coming to the door and suddenly it swung open. Before me stood a blond haired, blue eyed kid who bared no resemblance what so ever to Thalia, for a second I thought I had come to the wrong house.

"Hello, can I help you?" The boy asked.

"Oh, uhm, Yes, I was just looking for Thalia Grace?"

"And who should I tell her is looking for her?" he enquired,

"Nico Di Angelo." I responded

"Son to Pluto Di Angelo?" he asked with a raised eyebrow.

I nodded and he stepped aside for me to enter. "I'll go get her." He answered as he walked down a corridor.

The apartment was small but snug. I stood in the middle of the living room with the chairs and the television. A couple of feet away, in open plan, was the kitchen and a little table with four chairs tucked under it.

"What do you want?" Thalia's voice came from behind me.

I swirled around and had to restrain myself from leering at her. She was wearing a shirt which showed of her belly and still managed to hug her chest at the same time. On her bottom half she wore very low riding sweat pants which hung around her waist perfectly. I nearly groaned out loud and I could feel my cock twitch. One wrong move from her or one wrong thought from me and I would be going to boner land.

I cleared my throat, "I came to apologise profusely; I really didn't mean to offend you today, I just thought it would be a good experience for you and it would also mean that I had a date for the _business_ dinner party tonight. By the way, I don't ever take "piece of ass" dates to business occasions." I held her gaze waiting for her answer.

"Did you ask you on a date? If he did better say yes, he's HOT" came another girls voice from behind me."

"Shut up piper" Thalia said,

"Hey!" Jason exclaimed

But the girl just laughed and walked up to me. "Hi I'm Piper, This doofus's girlfriend." She held her hand out.

I smiled at her, "Hello, I'm Nico. Thalia's colleague who is, in fact, trying to get her to accompany me to a very important dinner date tonight." I said returning my gaze to Thalia who glared at me.

Piper looked at Thalia with a fake appalled look. "Go with him! Go with him! Go with him! Go with him!" she chanted over and over again. She elbowed Jason in the stomach and he started chanting as well. Soon there were two fifteen year olds screaming at the top of their lungs. I laughed at first and soon joined in their brilliant plan.

"Go with me! Go with me!" I chanted as well.

Thalia had her hands on her ears but once I started chanting, it looked like she was about to explode. "Alright! I'll go to the stupid dinner with you, all of you just _shut up_!"

We all cheered and I hi-fived Jason and Piper. Suddenly Thalia's face fell, "But I can't leave Jason and Piper here unsupervised."

My face fell for a moment, then I had an idea, "You can bring them to my place."

She looked at me like I was crazy, "Oh sure, I should leave them unsupervised in your house. That's an even better idea"

I rolled my eyes, "My dad's right hand man is there for a while checking up on me and the business. He raised me so I trust him with my life and he's a very old fashioned kind of guy, he'll make sure they're on their best behaviour while we're out."

I waggled my eyebrows at the two teens who blushed furiously, Thalia tried to find another argument but Piper cut her off, "Oh for God's sake Thalia! Don't be such a prude, look at him; he looks like something right off a throne in the high heavens. If he isn't a keeper, I don't know what is!"

I smirked at Thalia who was glaring at Piper with slightly pink cheeks, "I have to hand it to the girl, she speaks the truth." I winked at Thalia and hi-fived Piper.

Jason just rolled his eyes and moved closer to Piper. "Piper, it isn't all about looks" Thalia tried to scold her, but she just rolled her eyes. "Right, just because I'm fifteen doesn't mean I don't know what twenty three year olds think. Remember Silena is twenty three" she said in a sing song voice.

I chuckled as I noticed Thalia's blush deepen. "Alright, I'll grab my stuff and get ready at your house so we can drop them off and I can meet this mentor of yours."

I fist pumped and high-fived Piper and winked at Jason who just blushed as he held onto Pipers hand.

Once Thalia was gone, Jason let go of Piper's hand and directed me towards a chair. Once I was snug he gave me a stern look, "How old are you?" he asked

I wasn't expecting that, "Twenty five,"

Jason nodded, "I'm sure you don't want to die at the age of twenty five, so don't hurt Thalia."

I nodded, now _that_ I was expecting "But we aren't even dating,"

"That won't be for very long. I can almost taste the sexual tension between you two" Piper interrupted Jason before he could talk.

I blushed, was my attraction to her that obvious, that even a fifteen year old girl could tell? I inwardly groaned at the thought. Jason gave me a stern glare which I guess counted as a warning.

When Thalia came back out, I had to keep my eyes away so that my obvious attraction wasn't even more obvious. She hadn't changed anything except now she held a large bag and on her feet were some flip flops. "Okay I'm good to go."

Piper and Jason grabbed their school bags, to do homework I assumed, and made their way down the stairs. I walked out, with Thalia hot on my trail and stood waiting for her as she locked the door.

I looked away as she placed the key in the lock, but she dropped the key and I turned to watch her as she bent down to pick the key up. Because of how low her sweatpants were, I caught a glimpse of her lacy red thong and myself control went out the window and all the inappropriate things I wanted to do with her came flooding back in.

I removed my jacket to try and hide the erection that was beginning to form as Thalia and I walked down the stairs chatting about our tastes in music and movies. It was nice just hanging out outside the office but the fact that I was so disturbingly attracted to her was going to make this difficult.

Jason and Piper stood at the base of the stairs talking intently and they suddenly stopped and smiled when they saw us. "What were you guys talking about?" she asked.

"Nothing" they said simultaneously. I immediately translated that to real speak and it meant, "Something we don't want you to know about"

I smirked at them and said a sarcastic, "Right, I believe that"

Piper stuck her tongue out at me, and Jason just rolled his eyes. I brought out my keys and opened the doors to my black range rover. Jason and Piper crawled into the back seat, while Thalia rode shut gun beside me.

The ride to my house took us about twenty minutes which I spent playing a supervised version of twenty questions with Jason and Piper, while Thalia just laughed at our antics. I really liked Jason and I saw us being great friends, we both liked the same football team, the same soccer team, and the same basketball team.

Once we arrived at my apartment complex I showed them up to my flat.

"Whoa Dude nice pad!" Jason shouted as he walked through my large living room.

The main tones were, grey and black with hints of white. My house looked like a very sophisticated and modern flat without all the creepy bachelor cliché's. Everything was a large open space and there was a sitting room area with three long couches which all faced the television area. A coffee table stood in the middle of the couches and on it were some books, papers and remote controls

The television was a large 72 inch flat screen that had the most amazing surround sound system money can buy. Below it on the wall was my collection of movies and cd's.

On the other side of the wood panelled floors was a dining table, given to me by my father, made of obsidian and platinum. And the kitchen looked exactly like a restaurant's kitchen except it was smaller. There was a window which meant you could look into the kitchen and talk to people, but you couldn't go in unless you used the door. Beneath that window was a space and a bar where I kept my expensive wine and other spirits. There were also bar stools so it looked like a bar and restaurant. I walked over the threshold and down the corridor towards Chiron, my mentor's room.

My knock resounded through the corridor and I heard him make his way towards the door. "Ah, Nico, I wasn't expecting you back so soon. What brings you back this early?" he asked, smiling at me.

"I'm going for an impromptu dinner and I invited a colleague of mine as a date. Unfortunately, she has a fifteen year old brother who she can't leave unsupervised, and his girlfriend is staying over so she thought it would be irresponsible to leave them alone." I rolled my eyes, "Teenagers you know how they are." He cracked a grin and gave me a knowing look. My response was a blush as I ran my fingers through my hair. "Anyway, I thought you could help babysit for a while we attended the dinner. We don't have to leave till seven thirty but we'll be gone till pretty late."

He nodded, "Let me meet the children," I gave him a wide smile as I enveloped him in a hug and thanked him profusely.

"I now introduce, Chiron!" I announced as I returned into the living room to find Piper and Jason lounging on the couch flipping through channels. Their heads snapped towards us and they both stood up.

Thalia also stood up to introduce herself but I stepped in, "Chiron, this is Thalia my colleague." And that is her brother Jason, and his girlfriend Piper."

Chiron shook their hands and smiled warmly at them. "Please make yourselves at home, have the children eaten?"

"No, and I'm really hungry" Jason frowned and rubbed his stomach. Piper nudged him but I just laughed. "What would you like to eat Jason?" I asked him,

"Honestly, I was feeling in that four seasons pizza mood…" he turned to see Pipers frown waiting for him, "But anything Piper wants is absolutely fine!" he finished

She smiled triumphantly in my direction, "What do you have Nico?"

"I have pasta, lasagne, pizza, sandwiches, French fries, sausages, ham, beef, eggs, meat, truffles, strawberries, turkey, chicken…" I would have continued but Piper held up her hands,

"Okay, Okay, I'll have lasagne! Jeeze talk about an overload." She said rolling her eyes.

I laughed and dropped my coat as I walked into the kitchen. "Thalia, could you come help me in here?" I asked. Honestly, I didn't really need help; I just wanted it to hasten up the process.

I opened the door for her and gave her a smile, "Ladies first,"

She scoffed and rolled her eyes but entered anyway. "Wow, this is a really nice kitchen. It looks like something out of a restaurant," she held a thoughtful look, "well a mini version anyway."

I smirked and walked over to the refrigerator to begin bringing out the ingredients.

"I'll have you know my kitchen skills are very limited so if I burn your house down, you're to blame." She said leaning on the table.

"I'll try to remember that." I laughed, "Okay, now, the raw lasagne is in the cupboard behind you, could you help me get it down?"

I turned away from her to get the rest of the ingredients and when I turned back round Thalia was on the tips of her toes, stretching towards the cupboard trying to grab the box with the tips of her fingers. What she didn't know is that she was giving me a complete view of her black lacy bra and her torso.

I momentarily lost control of myself as I walked towards her and then wrapped my arms around her waist to lift her up. The contact was mind blowing and her feel of her body against mine was almost enough to strip me of all self-control.

I heard her inhale sharply and once I saw her hand wrap around the pasta, I loosened my grip on her and she slid back down against my body till her feet touched the floor. We stood there for what felt like hours, without any space between us. We were so close that I could feel her heart beat on my chest.

I looked down into her eyes and leaned closer, she leaned closer as well. My eyes drifted to her lips and her arms went round my neck. Our mouths were so close that I could feel her breath against mine and it was intoxicating me. I didn't know how far this would go before it ended, but I was almost a hundred percent sure that if we kissed it intensified the heat of the fire which was blazing through my body, I wouldn't be able to stop till I had my release.

About a tenth of a second before our lips met, the doorbell rang and we flew apart.


	5. Chapter 5

**Sorry, this is just a filler, next chapter will be much better.**

I looked at her and smiled sheepishly then I ducked out of the kitchen to answer the door. There to my utmost annoyance, stood Percy Jackson.

"Hey, Di Angelo you didn't answer your cell phone. I was in the neighbourhood so I came to return your money." He smirked at me.

I rolled my eyes at him. "What did I interrupt something?" he asked. Then he noticed Piper and Jason sitting on the chair and scrunched up his eyebrows, "Dude, since when do you have kids?"

"I don't have kids you moron, that's Thalia's brother."

"Thalia, you mean your PA, the one who saved my but?" Percy asked

"Yeah, Thalia, Percy's here and he'd like to thank you personally." I called into the kitchen and she came out and smiled at Percy.

Percy looked between the two of us for a moment and I gave him a look that said don't bring it up and he immediately smiled at her and thanked her profusely while holding her in a bone crushing embrace.

I rolled my eyes and returned to the kitchen to focus on cooking dinner while Thalia and Percy watched me through the window and we all chatted away.

Once I was done and the food had been served, Thalia emerged from the bathroom where she had gone to take a shower and took a chunk out of Jason's plate before he could even taste it.

She chewed a bit then her eyes widened slightly, "This is absolutely fantastic, who taught you how to cook like this?"

"I learnt here, there and everywhere." I shrugged.

"That's absolute bullshit; he grew up in Florence around and was around his grandmother most of the time. He only came to school here when he was twelve and even then he spent most of his holidays back home. You can say he picked up a few things from her." Percy interrupted while scarfing down his meal.

I glared at him but he ignored me completely and focused on filling the vacuum he calls his stomach. "Whatever I'm going to get ready, Thalia we're leaving in thirty five minutes"

"Yes boss" she smirked as she walked back into the spare room to change.

Once I was ready in my Valentino suit and Hermes shoes, I stood talking to Percy outside.

"What's going on with you two?" he whispered.

"Honestly, I have never wanted a woman so badly in my entire life. It's driving me crazy." I confided in him.

"Even more than the time you hadn't had sex in four months and then you screwed that French model in the supply closet at Silena's wedding?"

I smirked at the memory but nodded, "Definitely worse. I am very sure I'm going to contract a deadly case of blue balls pretty soon."

Percy's mouth formed a circle as he mouthed, "Oh"

"I don't know how much longer I can do this," I threw my head into my hands.

The sound of heels clacking along my marble floor brought me out of my moping state and when Thalia emerged I knew I was officially done for. She looked mouth-watering in a grey gown which exposed her back all the way to her waist. Her creamy skin looked perfect in the dress and the blue heels she wore only served to elongate her body and add more curves.

Percy nudged me and my mouth snapped closed, unfortunately my Penis had other ideas and wanted to make itself shown. I cleared my throat, "You look ravishing Thalia." She blushed and the bob cut on her head covered a side of her face.

"Jason, Piper, we're leaving. Don't do anything naughty she commanded as she walked out of the house with Percy and I in tow.

I decided that my Mercedes s class would be fitting for this occasion so I opened the door for Thalia and waved at Percy who drove off in his BMW. I slid into the driver's seat and started the engine. There was still an awkward silent because of the ordeal earlier this evening but when we both started singing along to American idiot by Green day. The awkwardness seemed to melt away.

Once we arrived at the dinner, all male eyes were on Thalia and I did not like that. I wrapped my arm around her waist which warded them off, but it meant I was in close proximity to her, almost too close. She didn't seem uncomfortable with my closeness and as she stood in my arm while we entered the venue, I couldn't help but notice how she was the perfect height for me.

The dinner was a phenomenal success and even I had a good time. We managed to secure the stone we needed for our winter exhibit and Thalia and I were in a jolly mood. I was particularly impressed with her ability to work the crowd as she did and she was the main catalyst which got Mrs Davenport to agree to the sale.

The rest of the evening flew by and by the time it was eleven thirty I decided it was time to leave. Thalia had said she was going to the bathroom but she was taking too long so I went towards that area to look for her. I found her as she walked out of the bathroom and she smiled when she saw me, "You were phenomenal this night," I said as I placed my hand on her back.

She blushed and stiffened, "Thanks," she said as she smiled up at me. I led her back into the car and we made our way back to my apartment.

**THALIA**

The rest of the week in the office, he was barely there because he was finishing other deals for the remaining centre pieces for the Christmas display and exhibit. On Friday after work, I was heading out of the supermarket when I caught someone patted my arm. "Thalia? It's me Annabeth, Percy's girlfriend."

I turned around to face the pretty blonde and smiled, "Hey Annabeth, nice to see you. How are you, how's Percy?"

"I'm great, busy with work and the Kids, but I'm great." She smiled, I raised my eyebrows, "You have Kids I thought you and Percy weren't married?"

"We aren't married because we were too busy having kids and I didn't want to rush anything."

"How old are your kids?" I asked bewildered,

"They're twins and they're turning two soon." She smiled widely. I gave her a look, "Yeah I know I'm only twenty five. Percy and I have been together since we were sixteen and I fell in love with him sometime around my thirteenth birthday. Not to mention that we've been sleeping together since I turned seventeen. So technically it wasn't unplanned." She winked.

I laughed with her, "Anyway, moving on from me how's things with Nico?" I suddenly remembered the ruse, "Um yeah, yeah things are great!" I said trying to make it sound true.

She smiled and nodded, "That's great. I was just thinking are you free tomorrow evening?"

"Yeah I am, why?" "I was thinking we all go on a double date since Nico, Percy and I have been friends forever but we've never really liked his girlfriends except you."

"Yeah that sounds fun" I said with fake enthusiasm. I wonder how I am going to explain this to Nico.

"Great, I'll text Nico and Percy to let them know and I'll text Nico the time and place alright?" I nodded, unable to form anymore words.

"See you later!" she said as she walked away waving.

"Bye, good luck with the kids!" I shouted back when I found my voice. "Shit" I muttered under my breath as I left the store.


	6. Chapter 6

**This chapter's pretty graphic, they finally hook up **

**Thanks everyone for the idea and all the reviews.**

**Enjoy..**

**THALIA**

I still had about six hours before the "date" with my "boyfriend" and his best friends, yet my mind was in a state of distress. I had even resorted to completely trashing my room just so I had the right outfit for tonight.

Jason walked into my room, "Hey Thalia,- whoa what on earth happened in here? Did you like have a crazy spasm thing or something?"

I rolled my eyes at his lame insult, "Shut up Jason, are Leo and Connor here?"

He grinned, "Yeah, I was just coming to tell you I as heading off." I walked over to him and ruffled his hair, "Have a good time, see you tomorrow. Please don't do anything I wouldn't do." I gave him a stern look.

He responded with a mischievous smirk, "Yes mum." Then he ducked out before I could deck him.

"Bye Thalia!" I heard the door slam behind him and returned to digging through my small pile of clothes for something similar to wear to this occasion.

**NICO **

Percy lounged in one of the couches in my room as I glared at him. "Look Nico, I didn't know about your little Thalia predicament when I saw her alright."

I glared harder, "Why on earth did you even think about that, what was wrong with Nico's colleague from work?" I asked exasperatedly.

"I don't know, it just… came out and I've apologised about a thousand times! It's too late to change anything now, the dinner is tonight and Annabeth has booked the table at Coldstone."

I conceded with a sigh, "You do know she is going to figure out everything when Thalia and I know nothing about each other?"

"Please you guys work together, you must know something about her." Percy rolled his eyes.

"If you forget, as you so often do, being a seaweed brain and all, she has only worked with me for two weeks so it wouldn't be impossible that I did not know anything about her"

"Shit, at least work out "your how did you two meet" answer. That's the one you're most likely going to be asked." Percy rubbed his chin thoughtfully,

I snorted, "The answer to that one is easy; I met her at the office"

"Exactly, as long as she doesn't give another answer, you're good to go and Annabeth won't murder me for lying to her." He muttered to himself.

I rolled my eyes and laughed at him, "I still don't know why you didn't just tell her that Thalia was a colleague of mine whom you'd met on one of your visits to my office."

He groaned and covered his face, "I don't know okay, I panicked!"

I shook my head at him and lifted myself off the chair and into my wardrobe, "You're still an idiot but I'm getting changed so we can go to the pool." I called from inside.

"You do that, I'm going to go warm up. See you there." He called as he bolted out of the apartment and up the stairs to the rooftop pool.

I rolled my eyes and proceeded to change into a pair of swimming shorts. I grabbed a towel, not bothering with a shirt and slipped on a pair of slides as I walked out of the apartment.

I swam laps for about an hour and a half before I finally got fed up and lifted myself out of the pool. Percy still swam around inside the pool, he noticed I was sitting by the side and pouted at me, "Why are you so lazy Di Angelo?"

"I'm not lazy Jackson, I'm just not obsessed with water like you are" I shouted back as I went down the stairs into my home. As soon as I walked through the door, the sound of the phone ringing drew me towards it. "Hey, it's Thalia" I heard her voice say through the telephone. I smiled, "Hey Thalia, what's up?"

"I'm coming up the stairs now to your house. I just realised we know nothing about each other and if she asks us, we need to make it look real." I stood there stunned for a second, then I heard her voice again, "Hello, Nico are you there?" I shook myself out of my stupor and answered, "yes I'm here and uh, okay I'll go open the door now" "Much appreciated boss." She said and she dropped the phone.

I noticed my hair was dripping all over the floor so I placed my towel in my locks and tried to dry them. I walked over to the door and opened it just as Thalia was about to ring the bell and when I saw her I smiled, "Hey Thalia even though we just spoke on the phone"

She didn't respond, but I noticed her jaw was slightly ajar and her eyes were wider than usual. Her eyes devoured my body, slowly but surely. They raked down my chest lingering slightly, and then continued down their path. I shivered; I could not afford to be turned on by her because I would surely regret it. I stood aside and cleared my throat then motioned her in. she blushed furiously and strode into my house trying to cover her red face.

I studied what she was wearing; she donned a nicely fitting pair of ankle length jeans and a transparent loose top. Her heels were bulky but, as usual, they added to the length of her body and just made it more appealing than it already was. I had to look away from her before she turned round to speak to me. "Uhh, make yourself comfortable I'm just going to take a shower. Percy's upstairs in the swimming pool if you need someone to talk to." And I dashed through the corridor.

As I stepped into the shower, I put on the frigid water and let it sluice down my body. At least this will help with the horniness. I made the rest of my shower quick and once I stepped out, I pulled on a pair of jeans and a plain black button up shirt.

I walked outside to see Thalia and Percy watching TV and laughing about some series they were watching. I walked over and plopped down beside Thalia, "what are you guys watching?" I enquired.

Percy turned to me, "We were watching the mentalist, but now I have to leave. Annabeth will be waiting for me with the kids. See you birds later, no hanky panky." He waggled his eyebrows then ducked out the door before I could pelt him with a pillow.

I turned back to see Thalia blushing slightly. I noticed the lack of distance between us and swore inwardly. That cold shower had done absolutely nothing for me. Right now there was nothing I wanted more than to just feel her body pressed up against mine with the skin in our lower regions slapping together. I needed the friction, the heat the-. I bolted up and strode to the kitchen trying to chase those thoughts out of my mind. "Do you want a drink or something?" I asked her. She looked stunned but declined silently.

"So what do you think should be out cover story, we met at a party and I asked you out?" I suggested from a safe distance.

She frowned slightly, and then blushed, "when I met her, she asked why you had never introduced me and I told her we had been sleeping together before you asked me out."

I smiled but it didn't quite reach my eyes, she apparently didn't understand how much I wanted to sleep with her. I wonder if she feels the same way… I smirked, "Good thinking, but if I know women, and I'm pretty sure that I do, what happens when she asks you how I am in bed, what would you say then?"

She smirked right back, "I'd say that a lady never tells about her man's can do's and can't do's."

That got my attention, I strode over to where she was now standing, "You wouldn't dare; I could show you so you give her a truthful opinion." I whispered as I traced her hand with my finger.

She shivered and her voice came out in a stutter, "Ho-how would you do that?" she swallowed loudly and blushed but she didn't move backwards. This caught his attention, she was saying no verbally, but was her body really saying no? He could see that her pupils were very much dilated and her skin was radiating heat in waves. Her lips were parted slightly and her breath was shallow.

I moved closer still, teasing her by tracing my fingers along her arms, her waist and her back. She looked up into my eyes and I couldn't hold myself back much longer. I crushed her to me in a long awaited kiss and damn I could swear on my life that it was the best kiss I'd ever had.

Unfortunately, my phone rang at that moment and I swore loudly. That seemed to break Thalia out of her trance and she covered her mouth with her hand and ran out the door. I thought of confronting her and ignoring my call, but once I saw the caller ID, I decided against it.

"Hey Dad, what's up." I said Italian as I tried to calm my body down.

"Hello Nico, how are you?" came his voice.

"I'm great and you?"

"All is well with me, the business is flourishing well and I've met someone." That piqued my attention. It had always been my dad and I against the world. I didn't want some stupid gold digger taking that away.

"That's great, who is she?" I asked keeping the suspicion out of my voice.

"You'll meet her soon it's nearly Christmas so after the display you'll be coming down right?"

I nodded, "Of course father, but do you trust that the company will be alright without me there?"

"Of course I do dear boy. We'll just ensure that all major clients are booked for the week after New Year's and you'll come down for two weeks or so. Is that alright?"

I frowned, I didn't know about two weeks but I hadn't spent any time with my dad in a while. It would be nice to see him. "How about, I spend a week and a half with you, and then make it back to New York in time for New Years?"

I could hear him crack a grin, "That's alright, so have you met a woman yet?"

"Not exactly, but I have a feeling I'm going to have trouble keeping it in my pants with this one woman." I said, thanking my lucky stars this conversation wasn't in English

I could hear my father chuckle, "Just remember Nico, don't do anything stupid and grab true love while you have it."

I smiled softly, "Yes father"

"Good, see you later,"

"Bye" and the phone went dead.

I put it down and received a text message from Thalia:

**Let's not talk about that, it was a mistake. **

**I'll see you later this night at the dinner. **

**Thalia x**

I didn't plan on feeling this upset about the whole matter, but I definitely didn't want to just forget about how amazing her lips felt on mine. Still, what could I do?

I lay down in my bed and decided to take a short nap for the time being.

**THALIA**

I tried to clear my head after that kiss, but it was impossible. I walked into a Starbucks not too far away and I decided I would just sit there and have a coffee to pass the time. For the entire time I sat there listening to my music, the thought of his lips permeated my brain. I couldn't think of much else and it was driving me crazy.

Once it was almost time for me to meet Annabeth, I stood up and walked to the restaurant which was only a few minutes' walk away from Nico's apartment. Once I entered I saw Annabeth sitting there with Percy and even from this far, I could tell they were madly in love. They were perfect for each other, both ridiculously attractive, I know I had seen Percy without a shirt this morning, and both wonderful people. I walked inside with a smile on my face, and they both grinned back once they spotted me. "Hey Thalia, Where's Nico?"

I swore inwardly. I forgot Percy had seen me with him earlier. "He's coming, I had to sort some things out for my brother." I lied.

"Ah There he is, we were just talking about you" Annabeth smiled. I looked back at Nico and my heart jumped into my throat. I may have been working for him for the last two weeks, but he was still so attractive it made my heart ache.

"Well now I'm here, let the dinner begin" he waved his hands in the air and we all laughed at his stupidity.

I had to keep myself distracted while playing the part so I ended up taking more than one shot. Once we finished dinner, we decided to go to a club and enjoy being young adults. I didn't drink much else at the club and neither did Nico.

As we sat at the table watching Annabeth and Percy practically have sex on the wall, I felt his eyes fall on me and remain there. I took another shot and he smirked, "You might want to stop there Miss Grace, I won't be held responsible for your actions if you're drunk."

I blushed slightly and rolled my eyes, "Whatever, this is getting boring. Do you want to dance?" I asked before I could stop myself. I was far from drunk but at least I could blame whatever I did tonight on alcohol right?

His eyebrow's rose into his head, "But of course" and he led me to the dance floor.

The music was loud and it was pulsing. I moved my body against his in the throng of people and soon the friction it created began to register in my brain. I turned to face him and his hands remained at my hips. The gyrating and the grinding apparently became too much for him because soon he pushed me onto the wall and lifted me up by my arse as I continued to wind my waist on his quickly forming boner.

He groaned as I continued to wind my waist and he whispered in my ear, "You might want to stop that because you obviously have no idea how much I want to see you in my bed"

His voice was low, controlled but strained at the same time and it was downright _sexy._

"Who said I didn't want to be in your bed?" I whispered right back and licked his ear.

He froze for a second then abruptly placed me on the floor and stepped back. "You're drunk; I'm taking you home let's go."

I was stunned for a second as he pulled my hand and led me to the door while texting on his phone. He led me to the back of his car and closed the door. I was still so stunned I didn't say anything the entire drive back. I had literally just invited him into my pants and he thought I was drunk?

He got to his apartment building and gingerly ushered me through the lift and up to his floor. "Why your house?" I asked in my half dazed frame of mind. "Because I didn't want to leave you alone in yours, I have no idea what you could do in your inebriated state"

That's when I snapped; I walked right up to him and slapped him in the face, "Are you _stupid_? I am not drunk, ask me a fucking question"

"Twelve times four" he shot back

"Forty eight" I responded without thinking about it and then I proceeded to walk in a straight line and even pirouette after doing that.

"If I was drunk, I'm sure you would have noticed that, moron."

**NICO**

I just stared at her and absorbed what she said and then I walked up to her and I kissed her.

The kiss was soft at first and then all the pent up passion, frustration and attraction poured into it, and it escalated quickly. Before any of us knew what was happening, her jeans were off and my trousers undone. Still we kissed, our hands flying everywhere groping each other madly. We both knew just what we wanted and damn anyone who was going to take that from us.

She continued to kiss me as her fingers danced over my chest through my unbuttoned shirt and damn was she a good kisser. My head was light just from the ministrations of her fingers and her lips and my dick was _throbbing. _She moved her mouth from my lips to the back of my ear and my neck and it wasn't long till she found that spot. The moan that escaped from my mouth was broken and unexpected, how was she doing this to me? I wasn't even in her yet and I was on the verge of exploding. She moved her lips down quickly over my chest and I threw my head back in pleasure. Before I could even register what she was doing, she had my dick in her mouth, I groaned loudly. She then proceeded to suck the life out of me, and damn was she good. She swirled her tongue, as she plunged her mouth onto my length and I was in heaven, where the fuck did she learn to do that? I was so close and to add some icing to the top of the cake, she massaged my balls in the process. "Thalia" I managed to groan as I tried to hold it in so I didn't choke her with the huge load that I was about to shoot.

She just raised her eyebrow and hummed on my cock. That was it, I groaned loudly as I came into her mouth. I could see stars exploding from behind my eyelids. Once I had spurted out everything, I opened my eyes to see Thalia smirking at me. She stood up from her kneeling position in between my legs and stretched. Just the sight of her standing in only a shirt, heels and tiny underwear made me want to fuck her even more.

I grabbed her and dropped her over my shoulders like a bag of rice as I rushed us to my room and then I continued kissing her everywhere; her stomach, her collarbone, her neck and her thighs.

I stripped her of her bra and her shirt then I devoured her nipples as my fingers crept up her legs. Without warning I sank two of my fingers into her soaking heat and sucked deeply on a new breast at the same time, she cried out in warning and her centre quivered. She moaned deeply and panted; I rubbed her clit with my thumb as my other fingers found their goal and rubbed the rough patch of nerves over and over again. Her mewls of pleasure brought my dick back to life and once I could feel her getting closer, I retracted my fingers and plunged into her making sure to hit that spot on my way in. She screamed out and I quivered from the overwhelming sensation of having her tight, hot pussy moulded perfectly with my aching erection. I thrust in once and she screamed again. Then she whispered in my ear, "Stop teasing and please just fuck me."

I didn't have to hear her horny voice twice, I began moving against her. Making sure I reached up high to that bundle of nerves. After a few strokes, I felt her pussy begin to tighten around my length and I made my strokes deeper and faster then I pressed her little button and threw her over the edge. She screamed my name loudly as I pushed her over the edge and I felt her contract sharply and tightly around my dick. I prolonged her orgasm and went a bit deeper and harder till she screamed again and this time I shot a large load of sperm into her body as I shouted her name with a hoarse cry.

Once I slipped out of her, I was dizzy from how much I had enjoyed that. I didn't know how I was going to control myself around her much longer, with that thought in mind. I fell into a deep sleep.

**Thanks to 1D lol for pointing out my mistake... ;)**


	7. Chapter 7

**THALIA**

As I gained consciousness, I stretched out on the large bed I was in and yawned deeply. I opened my eyes and nearly fell out of bed in shock. _This isn't my room,_ I thought and then the thoughts of yesterday came flooding back. I blushed deeply as I remembered last night and as I got up, I noticed that I felt so stress free and relieved. I understood that response because before last night, I hadn't had any sex for the past 10 months. I was going through a dry spell and what better way to break it than to sleep with your boss?

I got up and grabbed a shirt from the floor, not bothering to check who it belonged to. Once I had thrown it on, I padded out into the living room to look for Nico. _What if he's ditched you? _a little voice in my head said. I hesitated, would he do that? I mean, it would make a very awkward working environment.

I momentarily pushed aside my fears and made my way out to the sitting room and I noticed the television was on but there was no sound. The place, however smelt like something delicious was cooking so I walked into the kitchen where I saw that Nico's naked back was to me as he fried something on the cooker.

"Have a good night's sleep?" he asked,

I was startled for a second, "how did you know I was here? Are you some kind of CIA agent or something?"

He chuckled lightly, "You'll never know, information like that is classified."

I rolled my eyes and walked to the island table to grab an apple and leaned against it munching my apple as I watched him cook.

His back muscles were as defined as the rest of him and every slight movement caused them to ripple. I watched him intently and as my thoughts drifted back to last night, I began to grow warm with lust.

He turned around and stopped dead in his tracks as his gaze fell on me. His eyes roamed my body slowly making me blush and fiddle with the bottom of the shirt.

He raised an eyebrow and cocked his head to one side as he moved closer to me, "I think that shirt looks really good on you"

He kept walking till he was right in front of me and then he slowly unbuttoned the entire shirt ,leaving me exposed, and started to trace his kisses up and down my jaw. I moaned brokenly and that seemed to drive him off the edge.

He tore the shirt off my shoulders and I reached for his sweatpants and slid them to the ground leaving us both naked in the kitchen.

He lifted me into his arms as he carried us to the sitting room, my mouth never left his neck.

I doubted we were going to make it to the bed and I was right when I felt him fall onto the couch with me on top of him.

There was no need for foreplay this time. My body was already dripping with need which made it easy for me to slip onto his rigid length. We both let out content sighs and I began to ride him smoothly. I rolled my hips and he moaned. Soon he was meeting my strokes and the pressure in my stomach was building up at an alarming pace. I kept rolling and gyrating my hips as I rode him which seemed to drive him crazy because he moaned my name. I knew I wasn't going to last longer because the pressure had built up so fast and it was ready to pop. My breathing became more erratic and I began to speak but Nico understood and decided to make me lose the ability to speak coherently because then he latched his mouth onto my nipples and used another hand to press on my clit. So what I said came out as something like this, "nghhhhaaaahhh"

Nico raised his hips sharply and drove himself into me. The sensation was unbelievable, my body was on cloud nine and suddenly the release came and I screamed out his name as I flung my head backwards and felt the inside of my walls contract more intensely that it ever had before. Nico helped me ride out my orgasm and soon enough he groaned as he shot his load into me.

My naked body collapsed into his. We were both dripping with sweat but damn, it was worth it.

After a few minutes of panting and trying to settle our breathing, I raised my head to look at him.

His dark eyes met mine and he smirked at me and then he kissed me. I kissed him back and before he could get us fired up again I slipped off him and stretched my limbs.

I made my way over to the kitchen to get some breakfast and possibly put on some clothes. Once I stepped into the kitchen, I spied his shirt on the floor where it had fallen. I picked it up and replaced it on my shoulders and then I walked over to the cooker where he had been frying something and peered into the frying pan. He had fried some scrambled eggs and over by the side of the table, I noticed there was a packet of salmon, and a loaf of bread.

I began to salvage some food but he wrapped his arm around my waist and lifted me off the floor and me onto the island table then motioned for me to stay. He began to place portions of food onto two plates and he expertly arranged the food so it looked like I was at a real restaurant.

As he moved round, I began to get turned on again. What on earth was wrong with me? We had hot sex barely ten minutes ago and I already wanted more. I honestly hoped I wasn't turning into some nymphomaniac.

I crossed my leg to help control the dull throbbing between my legs and I averted my eyes from him as much as possible. I was concentrating so hard on not looking at him that when he lifted me into his arms and deposited me at the table. I nearly jumped out of my skin which of course caused him to burst out in laughter and I scowled deeply but that all went away when I saw the delicious looking meal that sat before me. He sat on the opposite side of me and we both dug into our meal. I moaned when I tasted the food which caused him to choke slightly. I looked at him with a raised eyebrow and noticed that his eyes were dark with lust.

I flushed and averted my gaze form his so we could continue with our meal in silence.

NICO,

That moan was what did it for me. Once we were done with this meal I _needed_ her. I didn't know how she could so easily drive me into frenzy. She was the raw definition of sexy and I doubt any other woman could turn me on so much, by just wearing my shirt.

I continued to watch her as she ate and I noticed she hadn't fully done up the buttons of my shirt so I could still see the swell of her breast. I could feel the erection forming and I sighed quietly.

Once we were both done with breakfast I took both plates to the kitchen and came out to find her stretching.

My shirt was short enough that I could see part of her bum as she stretched upwards. Honestly, this woman was going to drive me out of my mind. I was completely hard now and I wanted to fuck her, again.

I walked up to her from behind and wrapped my arms around her waist. I pressed myself against her back and kissed her neck tenderly. She noticed my boner but she just tilted her head backwards to give me more access. I smiled and as I massaged her neck with my mouth, I placed my hand into her shirt and onto breast and I slowly caressed her, playfully teasing her nipple.

She tilted her head back and moaned. I smiled, "Do you want to take a shower?"

"Of course," she answered breathlessly.

After another session of intense sex in the shower, we finally stopped jumping each other's bones long enough for us to sit down and watch TV and actually talk. She told me all about her family and I told her stories of me growing up in Italy with just my father.

She was lying on my sofa, her head in my lap about to fall asleep but then her phone rang. I lifted her head gently off my lap to get her phone before she could attempt to and I handed it to her. After a few seconds with the receiver in her ear, she bolted up and sat up straight as her hand flew to her mouth.

"Yes, I-I'll be right there!" she stuttered as she flew of the chair and ran into my room to get her discarded clothes.

"Thalia, what's going on?" I asked as I followed her to my room where she ran around in a frenzied state.

"Nothing just leave me alone. You've gotten in my pants now so you can stop behaving like I'm anything more than your fucking secretary!" she screamed at me.

I was surprised but even more confused. What on earth was making her so defensive and paranoid, I continued watching her and I noticed there were tears in her eyes. That could only mean one thing, "What's happened to Jason?" I asked calmly.

She froze for a second, "There's been an accident and he's being rushed to the hospital. Piper just called me to tell me which one." her voice was thick and it was obvious she was panicking

This alarmed me, I hadn't known Jason for very long but he was a good kid who cared a lot about his sister. "Come on Thalia, you can get your stuff later just grab your jeans and a shirt and let's go. I urged her on while I too tried to retrieve a shirt to put on.

In a matter of seconds, we were out of my house speeding to where Thalia's brother was; possibly dead, but hopefully alive.


	8. Chapter 8

**I am really sorry for my lack of updates, it has been a really busy last couple of weeks,**

**The reviews will pick up again next Friday but there may be one more before that!**

**Thanks for reading and reviewing **

**NICO**

We arrived at the hospital and Thalia was in a state, she was panicking and I could practically hear her imagining the worst. Once we entered, we noticed Piper sitting in a chair with tears streaking her face. I went to sit with to her as a doctor walked up to where we were and spoke to us.

The doctor who attended to us was in his early fifties, he had a thin crop of hair and a kind face. "Are you Thalia Grace?" he asked with a grim look, my stomach sank slightly.

"Y-Yes I am," she stuttered as she walked forward to meet him.

"Well, your brother was in critical condition but we brought him out of the clear and it seems like he's going to be alright." Thalia exhaled in relief and broke into a smile, which faltered when the doctor continued speaking, "However, there is a problem. Because of the nature of your brother's accident and the extensive damage which was done to his leg and ribs, he is going to have to undertake another two or three surgeries, before the damage is fully repaired."

"Yes, so what exactly is the problem," Thalia asked confused.

"Well it's going to cost a lot more than your insurance can cover," the doctor continued,

Thalia's voice became smaller and her face paled, "How much more?" she whispered.

"About sixty thousand dollars or more," he finished.

Thalia let out a sharp exhale, "I-I can't afford it."

The doctor had a pitiful and sad look, "Then I'm sorry, we can't conduct the surgeries required and Jason is eventually going to lose all function of his left leg and have to live without a complete set of ribs."

I frowned, Jason didn't deserve that, he was a good kid who deserved the best in life. Thalia's hand flew to her mouth and her eyes watered. Piper who sat beside me had been listening and was still crying very steadily.

"I'll try to come up with the money, how long do I have before the payment is due?" she asked,

"Well, we have to conduct all of the surgeries between the next couple of days and since you don't have the money you're going to have to sign over all of your assets until you can pay for it."

Thalia nodded, "What does that entail exactly?"

"Well, it means that if you don't have the money within the next week, your home will be repossessed and put back on the market."

Thalia didn't even without missing a beat, "Where do I sign?"

I decided it was time to step in, "Wait, Thalia, are you sure you want to do this?"

Thalia looked at me like I was out of my mind, "Of course I want to do this! He's my brother, the only family I've got and I'm not going to lose him or let him live a miserable life." Her voice cracked and she returned her attention to the doctor who led her down the corridor to get some papers signed.

I sighed and watched her as she went, and then I turned to Piper who was still crying silently. I wrapped my hand around her, "Piper, what happened?"

"He-he was walking me home and as we were walking past a pedestrian crossing, some car was just speeding towards us. He pushed me out of the way and he was so close as well but the car hit his side and crushed his leg. It was the most horrible thing I had seen in my entire life Nico and it was all because he wanted to save me" she continued bawling her eyes out and I just held on to her.

This didn't need to happen to them, I looked down the hall in the direction that Thalia had gone in and suddenly had an idea. "Piper, I'll be right back." I said as I carefully stood up and escaped from her grasp.

I wondered why I didn't think of this before when the doctor mentioned the cost of the surgery, I was so stupid sometimes. I ran down the hall to see Thalia sitting in an empty room crying. I stood hesitantly at the door, wondering how I should approach the issue.

After a couple of seconds I decided to just brave it and speak to her, "Thalia?"

"What do you want Nico?"

"I wanted to speak to you about this whole situation."

"What can you possibly say? You're my boss who I foolishly slept with now I can't quit because if I do I'll be out of a job and I'll lose my house and my brother!"

I tried not to bristle at her harsh comments because I knew she was really upset. I took a deep breath and walked forward, "As your boss, it is my duty now to ensure my workers welfare is intact. So I can either get you a new house, or I can loan you the money to pay for his treatment."

"And what's the condition for this loan, that I continue sleeping with you?" she snapped back.

"No," I growled, "The condition is that you quit your job and finish grad school and then you come back to work for me."I couldn't believe she thought I wanted to help her only because of her body.

"Over my dead body, and how would I support myself through school? Where would I live, what would happen to Jason?" she shot back, "You obviously didn't think your little scheme through."

I stood silent for a second and drank in her appearance. She looked exhausted and this ordeal had just added another fifteen years on her too young age. I knew she didn't mean what she was saying; she was distraught with grief, sadness and frustration. I also knew she wasn't going to listen to me while she was in this state.

I sighed, "Thalia, I'm only trying to help you. I'm going to tell you my offer again but please just do me a favour and don't decide here. Go home once you're ready and sleep on it and then tell me on Tuesday when you get back to work."

She turned her back to me and refused to even look at me, I knew she wasn't going to give me her attention because she was determined not to take my help but u decided to pitch my offer anyway.

"Look, there are three options; first, the surgery is sixty thousand dollars I could pay for it and you get your house back and continue going to school to get your degree. Once you finish you could come back to work for me for a number of years and I'll use that to settle your debt. This way you don't have to quit your job. Second, if you really want to quit, I'll give you some time to find a new job while you stay in school and continue supporting you and Jason. When you do find a job, you can continue supporting yourself. The last option is that, I give you an apartment where I don't have to pay rent and you don't have to work, you focus on school and helping Jason get better and when you finish you work for me for a few years and then start your career with durable work experience."

She hadn't moved from her position and I knew then it was time for me to leave her alone. I took one last look at her and walked back to where I had left Piper.

I honestly hoped she accepted my request because honestly, why not help a friend? I had a lot of money, my best friends were rich and I had no close family except my Dad. If I could help her in her time of need why shouldn't I?


	9. Chapter 9

**I apologise very very much for my apparent lack of updates, and now when I update, it's this shit. **

**I'm soo sorry, things have been ridiculously busy but now I'm back**

**This story has no extensive plot. It was started on impulse and is going to end soon. Not my best work but the next story I do will be much better, and longer. **

**Madlymagical left some helpful comments but also, this is a story, it is obviously not that easy to get a job in such a big firm, I know that. Thanks for the constructive criticism and idea's though!**

**Ohh one last thing, I could rewrite this story, add some flesh to it and all but I don't know if it's worth it. Leave a review to comment if not I'll continue as it is. **

**Try to enjoy ! x**

**THALIA**

I was determined not to take any of his offers. Who did he think he was? I was going to find a way to work, take care of Jason and go to school because I was strong enough.

But if I thought about it carefully, how was all that possible? Normal working hours were from 8 to 5 or sometimes 6. I was lucky because Nico understood my situation and was kind enough to allow me to work from 9 to 4 on most days, while still paying me a lot more than the average 8 to 6 worker.

I sat beside Jason's hospital bed while he slept. Nico had taken Piper home against her wishes but promised he'd bring her back tomorrow. Now I was alone with my brother who was scheduled to have his first surgery tomorrow.

It was nearly One AM but I sat there pondering. How was I going to do this? My finals were in a little over a month and a half and I was so close to graduating with a first class. Jason however needed more support than just two hours a day. I placed my head in my hands and groaned.

"What should I do Jason; Nico's offer could very well change your life and mine. I'm only twenty three; I can't handle all this by myself." I whispered to him as I looked at his unconscious face.

"Thalia," he whispered, "Don't let your pride ruin your life." I jumped toward him but he had already slipped back into unconsciousness.

I sat there blinking and my decision was made for me. I kissed his head and wrote him a letter to tell him that If I wasn't here when he woke up, I would be there soon. I grabbed my jacket and phone as I ran out of the hospital. Nico had insisted that he left his car with me because all my stuff was still at his house, including my money. Obviously I had refused vehemently but now I'm happy I just let it go.

I probably broke a few laws at the speeds which I was driving, but hey, it's not my car and he's fucking loaded so I couldn't care less. Once I reached his apartment I typed in the code which I had spied him typing in a couple of nights ago and I was given access to his private lift. Getting in was easy, now the difficult part would be getting into his house.

I sighed outwardly, I guess I was going to have to do it the old fashion way. Once I was positioned in front of his door, I began banging and ringing the doorbell so loud that if he didn't wake up, at least every one else would.

Unfortunately I had put so much momentum into my knocks that when the door swung open mid bang, I fell forwards and fell on a very wet and hard surface.

There was a surprised grunt as my body came in contact with his but he steadied himself and me before we could both go toppling to the floor.

"Ah, Thalia," he said as he straightened himself but didn't drop his hand from my waist so I was still in very close proximity to him.

"Hello Nico," I muttered as I pry myself out of his hands. He raises an eyebrow but lets me go.

He remained silent, watching my face trying to gauge my reaction. I continued to look anywhere but at him and my attitude seemed to make him impatient.

"So…?" he began, trying to bait me into explaining why I was at his door at nearly two in the morning.

I took in a large breath and spoke clearly, "I have made up my mind. Jason definitely needs more than two hours of care in a day and I can't successfully juggle going to work and school and taking care of him."

Nico nodded in agreement and waited for me to continue with my little speech.

"I can't move apartments either because at this time it wouldn't make sense to go through all that stress. I think what I should do is accept your offer to pay for Jason's surgery and then work for you a number of years after I finish from college."

"But how are you going to pay for your rent?" Nico interjected.

"I was just coming to that, I wondered if maybe I could work from home?" I asked him.

"That would be absolutely fine, but some of the stuff I need you to do involves your physical presence." He reminded me.

I swore inwardly, I had forgotten about that. It wouldn't do me any good if I didn't have a job though.

"How about I pay the rent on your flat till you finish school?" Nico pitched again.

I turn my head sharply towards him and narrowed my eyes, "Why are you doing this for me? I've barely known you for three weeks and you are already bailing me out of life damaging situations."

My tone sounded exactly as I felt, suspicious. Nico however just shook his head and stared at the floor.

"I don't know why I'm helping you this much but I guess it's because, I've met you and err, intimately interacted with you," He paused "I know your brother, and I know he doesn't deserve to live such a sad and depressing life. I'm rich and I have more than enough resources to help you, a friend in need. So why not?"

Indeed, I thought, why not? I was going to pay him back afterwards if it was the last thing I did on this earth. He wasn't going to have anything over me.

I racked my brain for something to say, some theory to explain why he was being so nice and so helpful, but I couldn't find any. Suddenly a wave of tiredness washed over me and all the energy from my prior adrenaline rush dissipated. I swayed slightly on my feet and my shoulders slumped.

Nico seemed to notice the sudden change in my attitude and was quick to voice his concerns. "Thalia, are you okay?"

I simply yawned in response and made a beeline for his couch. Once my head hit the surface of the chair, it wasn't long before my tiredness over took me and I slept soundly through the night.

**NICO**

I was reasonably surprised when Thalia walked through my door and lay on my couch where she promptly fell asleep but what else was I expecting? She had just gone through a day where her potential life plans had been irrevocably altered so maybe I wasn't all that surprised.

Once she had fallen asleep, I lifted her from her uncomfortable position on the couch and carried her into the guest room. I didn't think she'd be comfortable in my bed what with all the activities that had gone on there. Thalia didn't stir once as I transferred her to the spare bed. Once I had tucked her in safely, I walked over to my comfortable king sized bed and promptly lay down to sleep, my thoughts about tomorrow dominating my mind.


	10. Chapter 10

**I am a horrible horrible person for the looong wait… I know that.**

**Here's the chapter though.. Leave a comment always…**

**Thanks…xx**

**Thalia**

The next few months I could easily say were some of the most difficult weeks of my life. Jason's surgeries all went perfectly and soon he'd be back at 99.9%. I knew that 0.1% would be something but it seemed like a small price to pay.

Speaking of prices, Nico had paid all the money for the hospital bill without even batting an eyelash. Now I only had to come in for half of the day and the rest I spent taking care of Jason and finishing all my required coursework so I could begin to study for my finals.

Now it was the middle of February. Christmas and New Year's day had been small but very intimate with only Jason, Piper, Leo, Silena, Beckendorf, Annabeth, Percy, Nico and my best friends from Columbia, Hazel and Frank, who were invited over to my flat. And although it was pretty damn cramped, it was a million times better than being alone. I initially thought it would be a quiet Christmas period with just Jason and I, but on Christmas Eve, while we sat there drinking hot chocolate and watching a movie the doorbell rang. I expected it to be my pizza but I was more than surprised to see Nico, standing there in a very expensive looking suit.

_*Flash back to Christmas Eve*_

"_Nico, what on earth are you doing here. Shouldn't you be at the company's Christmas exhibit?"_

_He simply shrugged, "The exhibit is over, now the party is about to begin and honestly I didn't want to be there so I brought some friends of mine over."_

_He stepped out of the way and I saw Silena and Piper standing there in their dresses looking beautiful._

_I looked at him incredulously, "You know Silena?" _

_However he didn't get a chance to answer, Silena smiled widely and hugged me, "Of Course he knows me. I'm a designer and for a lot of my shows I use his jewels."_

_I smiled widely and looked down at piper, "Go in and see him, he is improving but he thought he wouldn't be able to see you till after Christmas because of your mum's annual party. He's been pretty bummed."_

"_Thanks Thalia," she smiled as she hugged me and ran in. _

"_Are you staying Sil?" I asked her._

_She shook her head sadly, "I would have loved to but Charlie and I have plans. I only came to see how you were doing and drop Piper off." She hugged me again and whispered to me, "Make the most of everything."_

_I watched her walk down the stairs, unable to ask what she meant by that. But I redirected my attention to Nico. _

"_And you, wouldn't your father be upset you aren't there to oversee the party?" I asked quietly._

"_My father is there himself. I'm pretty sure the party is fine. Besides, how am I going to cook Christmas dinner if I'm at a party?"_

_I was puzzled for a second, "I don't even have a turkey, so how do you plan on cooking Christmas dinner?" _

_He smiled and his eyes twinkled with mischief. He put his phone to his ear and said, "Bring it up boys"_

_I looked at him with wide eyes while he just grinned mischievously. "What on earth did you do?"_

"_You'll see" was all I got in response._

_Soon enough I did see. There were around four men who brought ingredients for a proper Christmas Lunch. One carried a large turkey and the rest carried everything else. The fifth man carried two duffel bags and gave them to Nico and then they all returned down the stairs. _

_Seeing as I stood shell shocked, Nico pulled me into my apartment and locked the door. He then repositioned me opposite the television. I was still frozen in shock but I could hear Piper and Jason chuckling lightly._

* * *

_After a few hours of him tinkering in the kitchen preparing the turkey, he walked out to find me still staring at the TV. Piper and Jason had since gone to sleep and it was now passed midnight. _

"_Why?" I whispered,_

_He seemed to get it because he sighed and sat beside me, "You've been through a rough couple of weeks. Christmas shouldn't have to be part of it and as your friend; I'm here to make sure of that. Come on let's get you into your bed." _

"_Where are you going to stay?" I asked as he took my hand and led me to my bed._

"_On the couch of course," he said like it was the most obvious thing ever._

"_No, sleep with me" I said looking at him._

_He hesitated for a second and glanced down at my attire, "I don't know if that's a very good idea"_

_I blushed at what he was insinuating. I was wearing a dressing gown and not much else. How he knew that though, I don't know._

_The attraction between us hadn't gone anywhere. In fact, for me it had heightened because I had gone so long without him. _

"_I'm sorry Thalia, but I don't need the temptation. I'll just sleep on the couch." With that he walked out of my bedroom leaving me feeling rejected. _

_I took off my dressing gown and fell into bed hoping I would be able to fall asleep. But with all the pent up energy I ended up tossing and turning for hours. Finally when it was around three thirty I decided to get something to drink._

_I placed a loose tank top over my bare chest and then walked outside into the kitchen to get some water. As I stood before the counter enjoying my water I heard footsteps behind me and soon someone's hands were wrapped around my waist. Electricity zapped through my body and I immediately pressed myself into the half bare body behind me._

_His hand slid up and down my sides and soon they disappeared beneath my shirt where he teasingly began playing with my nipples. The sighs of pleasure and satisfaction escaped my mouth and soon my hips were winding against his crotch. That seemed to make him very aroused because soon I could feel his penis, nice and hard on my backside._

_He spun me around and then ripped off my tank top and attacked my breasts. I panted his name and ran my fingers through his hair. My thoughts had been scrambled and all I could focus on were the sensations. Soon his fingers ghosted up my thigh and entered me but it wasn't enough. As he continued his ministrations, I found enough strength to pull down his sweat pants and boxers. I tried to grab his penis but he wasn't having it. He lifted me onto the counter and swiftly entered me. I was about to scream in satisfaction but he silenced me with a kiss and as he continued to move within me with long, deep and meaningful strokes he kissed down my neck and murmured to me, "Piper and Jason are sleeping we need to be quiet." _

_I nodded and wrapped my legs around his waist which meant he was reaching deeper and deeper inside of me. I moaned quietly and panted in time to his thrusts. Soon the friction was driving me crazy and I began raising my hips to meet his. He grunted and took my nipple back into his mouth as he increased his pace. My eyes rolled back into my head as I reached my climax and to ensure I didn't scream out loud he captured my lips in a searing kiss. I screamed into his mouth as my orgasm crashed over me in waves of pleasure. He elongated his powerful thrusts to draw it out all the more and as my walls contracted around his length he released his load with a grunt. "Merry Christmas Thalia" _

_Christmas day had been even more eventful. I woke up to find Piper and Jason having breakfast and Nico was seasoning the turkey. They were all laughing and joking jovially. "Merry Christmas!" they shouted simultaneously. I smiled and gave Jason and Piper hugs and then I gave Nico a brief side hug. _

_I caught Piper and Jason exchange a look but I decided to ignore it. "Thalia, you might want to go take a shower, your visitors will be here soon."_

_I noticed they were all dressed and glanced at my wrist watch. "It's already 12.30?!" why didn't anyone wake me up?"_

_They all shrugged and Nico answered with a slight twinkle in his eye, "You were tired, Jason told me how much you've been doing lately so I told them not to disturb you."_

_I glared at Nico who shrugged and I proceeded to clean myself up._

_Once I came out I saw Silena and Beckendorf crouching near the Christmas tree placing presents under it. Silena saw me and gave me a once over then grinned widely. I raised an eyebrow perplexed at what was making her so happy and she dragged me to a corner and whispered to me, "You guys had sex didn't you? And from both your relaxed and glowing states I'd say it was pretty damn Good sex"_

_I gaped at her and blushed madly, "Don't tell anyone. It just looks really weird if people know."_

_She winked at me "Sure."_

_Soon Annabeth, Percy, Hazel, Frank and Leo, Jason's best friend where here and it was one of the best Christmases ever, thanks to Nico._

…_.. _

_New Year's came around and it was exactly the same thing, everyone came over on New Year's Eve and we hung out till the next morning. Nico, who was always the last to leave except Piper, helped clean up. Once he was ready to leave Jason came out and asked to speak to him privately. _

_I didn't hear most of their conversation but in the end Jason gave him a hug before limping away. He could walk on one leg, but with his bad rib as well, crutches were out of the question so he had a walking stick. _

"_What was that about?" I asked Nico._

"_He just wanted to say thank you." Nico answered quietly._

_I looked down, "You are my guardian angel and you've done a lot for Jason and me. You've been an amazing friend and now I have even more friends in Annabeth and Percy. I know I won't ever be able to repay you for making this Christmas so worthwhile for us."_

_Nico had a look in his eyes, "You made it worthwhile for me too Thalia. See you at work in a week." He said as he kissed my forehead and walked away._

**BACK TO PRESENT**

Now Jason was back on his own two feet after weeks of physiotherapy and thanks to Piper he had caught up in school.

I was now at work full time and Nico had me working hard. Apparently we had to be prepared for Paris Fashion Week in Three weeks and then the Milan fashion week at the end of April and then New York in the middle of May. However, because of my finals which were happening from the end to the middle of April I wouldn't be as into the Milan week as Nico needed me to be.

I sat at my desk sorting our orders and Nico's meeting times. Speaking of Nico, he and I were only getting closer; I knew his routine like the back of my hand. I knew how he worked and how he ran his business so smoothly.

Right now he sat in a meeting with the head of their offshore mines and who was discussing with him what new things they had discovered and how much they would cost. We needed to make a new range of pieces to complement Silena's collection primarily, and then lots of other designers had requested some pieces to display with their outfits.

Once the meeting was over, Nico shook hands with the guests and did a hand signal which meant he needed me in here ASAP. I took a random pile of papers and called out to him.

"Mr Di Angelo, the Chanel files are here and we need to discuss some amendments" he nodded at me briefly then apologetically excused himself from the men's conversations and motioned me into his office.

"What was that all about?" I asked as he loosened his tie.

"The usual, but Thalia I have a huge favour to ask of you."

I raised my eyebrow suspiciously, "What?"

He sighed, "Paris Fashion week is in a few weeks and at this point I need to make presentations to my father showing him the pieces our designers have come up with."

I nodded for him to continue. "My father is currently in the middle of some important deals so he can't fly out. I however need to go see him and I can't do it without you." He finished in a rush.

My heart was pounding loudly and I was weirdly excited, but I didn't know why. "Why me?"

"You're my secretary; you know how I work the best. Anyone else will slow me down."

"How long will we be gone for?"

**NICO**

"How long will we be gone for?" she asked me.

"A week, a week and a half maximum." I answered in a small voice. She didn't understand how much I needed her with me. And what surprised me is that it wasn't just the sex I was going to miss.

"What about Jason? And school" she asked. I felt deflated, and I think I was starting to realise the problem.

"Don't worry then, if you can't do it. I'll manage on my own." I hoped the disappointment in my voice wasn't obvious.

She nodded quietly then left my office. Her presence had become a thing lately. With all the work going into the next few months I'd been spending a lot more weekends at her place discussing work and sometimes just hanging out.

I realised ever since the beginning of the year we'd been growing closer and I didn't know where this was going to lead if it went on much longer but I had a very good idea and I wasn't sure how I felt about it.

**Ohhh What's starting to happen? ... hmmm**


	11. Chapter 11

**Another Chapter. I apologise for the lateness but I am in the middle of exams so I have no time what so ever. However, I managed to get this one done…**

**Thanks for the reviews,**

**Leave some more…xx**

**NICO**

"Thalia seemed certain she couldn't make the meeting when we discussed it yesterday." I told my father as we sat talking on the phone.

"Well she doesn't need to come if you know what you're doing does she?"

"I want her to come with me because with her there it takes some of the pressure of me." I whined.

My father chuckled lightly over the phone, "Nicolas Alessandro Di Angelo, please do not tell me you're sleeping with your secretary," I blushed slightly but he continued before I could deny his claims, "You know what, what is her name? I need to do a full background check on her. Just in case you do end up falling for her, I don't want any gold digging whores in my family."

I rolled my eyes at his antics, "Her name is Thalia Grace, and she's at Columbia. Please don't let her find out about this so called background check. And what happened to that woman who you said you'd met before the Christmas exhibit?"

"Oh, so you are sleeping with her! Oh Nico, perché si mescolare lavoro e piacere? Pensavo di averti insegnato meglio (Oh Nico why would you mix business with pleasure? I thought I taught you better)" He responded ignoring my last question.

"Non ho mai detto mi è stato a letto con lei!" (I never said I was sleeping with her!) I retorted.

"Ma tu non lo nego. Nous discuterons de cela plus tard, je suis arrivé à la maison de Zeus nous allons avoir de golf ici cette semaine. Plus tard Fils" (But you didn't deny it. We will discuss this later, I have arrived at Zeus's house we're having golf here this week. See you soon Son.)

"Ciao Dad." I sighed as I dropped the phone. I hadn't forgotten about the mystery woman but I decided that now wouldn't be the best time to bring that up.

My dad rarely got upset with me; it was even rarer if he was angry. But when he started switching languages half way through sentences, I could tell he wasn't pleased.

I sighed and noticed that it was almost time for Thalia to come over so we could discuss the presentation in detail, so that I wouldn't have to worry about not having her there to keep notes organised. I hoped this meeting didn't last more than a day or two; I didn't want to be away from the office (or Thalia) for too long.

My thoughts continued to stray as I took a quick shower. She was very beautiful with her long legs, shapely body, perfect breasts and a toned figure. It didn't help that her moans and mewls haunted my late night fantasies not to mention the way her mouth made a perfect "o" shape when she came or was preoccupied with certain…things. It really didn't help that she was funny, not a girly girl and remarkably smart.

I dressed quickly, subconsciously anxious to be with her but I managed to convince myself that it was because she would be horny and I just wanted to have sex with her. I sent her a text telling her to tell me when she was here.

I didn't think I would be able to resist her if she was even slightly scantily clad. It didn't matter that our sex had been more regular than not in the earlier part of the year, but we hadn't slept together in a little over three weeks and if she wasn't about to explode from horniness, I sure as fuck was. Regardless, I couldn't sleep with her again because I was starting to notice a difference.

Just as I buttoned up my shirt, the doorbell rang. I opened the door and there she stood looking absolutely beautiful with her laptop and hand bag. I could tell she was just coming from lectures because she looked exhausted.

"Long day?" I enquired as she stepped over the threshold.

"You have no idea." She sighed then dumped her stuff on the table and collapsed against the chair. "It was stressful more than anything now I'm all wound up with no way to de-stress"

I shook my head and stood behind her giving her a shoulder massage. "What would you like to eat?" I asked as I continued massaging her neck."

She arched her back into my fingers and closed her eyes. "I would actually quite like you if that's alright" she opened her eyes and smirked.

I stiffened for a second and shook my head slowly, "Thalia we have to work,"

"When has that ever stopped us? If you don't want to have sex with me just say so, don't make up excuses," she snapped as she closed her eyes again.

"It's not that I don't want to have sex with you because trust me, I do," I whispered in her ear. "I just can't right now. It's my fault not yours."

She moaned into my touch and then sat bolt upright and said, "Is there another woman in your life because I'm sure I can find another fuck buddy, don't let me keep you from being happy."

I stared at her like she had grown a third head, "Why on earth would you think I was dating someone?" I asked incredulously.

"Well, you haven't touched me in three weeks and you just turned down a blow-job and possibly quick sex" she shrugged. "I know you aren't gay, I know your sex drive and recovery time are perfect so the only other option was that there is another woman on your mind."

I couldn't find a fault with her logic, "And if I just wasn't in the mood for it?" I asked.

"That would only happen for two reasons. One, you were getting it elsewhere and loving it or two, you were masturbating to relieve yourself." She countered.

I shrugged, avoiding answering the question. "Doesn't matter let's get to work. There's a lot to be done."

She raised her eyebrows and looked at me a while longer before slowly turning back to the files before us.

"You never told me what you wanted to eat," I spoke without looking at her.

She shrugged, "Surprise me boss."

She didn't seem happy about the fact that I had turned her down. "I'll just make some quick pasta then, hope that's okay?"

"Yeah, that's fine." Her tone seemed detached as she continued poring over the files

I raised an eyebrow at her sudden change in attitude but shook my head before I walked into my kitchen to start preparing dinner.

After a few minutes, I left the kitchen as I waited for the meal to cook. When I walked out I saw Thalia on her laptop smiling.

"Why are you so happy?" I asked her as I walked towards our work area.

"Before I answer your question, when are you leaving for Milan?"

"On Monday I believe, why?" I asked looking confused.

"Because by some miracle my important lecturer is ill with some weird disease and is out for the week. My remaining classes are mostly coursework now so we don't need to go unless we need help." She said with her eyes twinkling.

My expression changed from a frown to a smile as she explained. Now that she was done explaining, I was beaming. "Does that mean what I think it means?" I asked.

"Yes it does boss." She said smiling and sauntering over to where I was standing.

I could see where this was heading as she made her way over to where I was and in the ten seconds it took her to walk over to me. I had fought an internal war but my self-control was seriously waning as she morphed into a predator before my eyes.

She knew what she wanted and she knew that I wanted what she wanted so whether or not I was willing to give it to her; she was going to take it.

But she surprised me, she brushed passed me and whispered as she did, "You might want to go check on dinner, you wouldn't want to burn the house down would you?"

I shivered involuntarily and made my way to the kitchen in my dazed state.

Another twenty minutes later I walked out of the kitchen with our dinner and wine and I noticed Thalia wasn't in the room. "Thalia!" I called out to her but I got no response.

I walked to where she had been working and saw her stuff still there but she wasn't there.

Suddenly she comes in from the pool area, wrapped in my dressing gown and with her wet hair framing her face. She spotted the wine and grabbed it from my hand.

She studied the label and raised an eyebrow, "A vintage, 1989 Meursault-Perrieres wine bottle, what's the occasion?"

I shrugged, not sure how to tell her my grandfathers had been highly involved in French and Italian vineyards and I now held part ownership of a reasonable amount of them.

She eyed me for a second longer before she took the wine opener from me expertly opened the bottle. For some odd reason, I was turned on by her at this moment.

She motioned for me to pass her one of the glasses which I held and I mutely agreed. She poured herself half a glass and swirled then lightly took in the smell. Once she was done she took a sip and savoured it momentarily before downing the entire glass and doing the same for two subsequent glasses.

I stared at her realising that she had just aroused me even more. She seemed aware of my staring and poured a full glass for me and for herself. "Want some?" she offered.

I nodded and extended my hand to get the glass. "A toast," she announced, "To getting what you want"

I raised my eyebrow and took a sip of my wine as she finished hers rapidly. Once she was done she dropped the glass and in one swift movement she untied the belt of the dressing gown and slid it off her shoulders.

I almost choked on my wine.

There she stood, very naked, in front of me.

She walked over with a smirk on her face and pulled on my hand as she led me to my bedroom. I didn't even bother fighting it. I followed her very willingly into the room and gave her exactly what she wanted.

The next morning, I walked out to see her in my shirt sitting on the couch doing some work.

"You stayed over, what happened to Jason?" I asked as I sat beside her.

"He is at his friend's house for the night." I nodded at her and pulled her into my lap as she tried to work.

"Go away Di Angelo or help me or something, this is the work that we were supposed to be doing yesterday before you intoxicated me and got me into your bed."

I smirked and kissed her neck, "If I remember clearly, that is not how yesterday went."

She smirked and shrugged, "That's how I remember it."

"By the way, it was Valentine's Day on Thursday and we didn't do anything to celebrate so I got you something if that's okay?"

She froze, and looked into my eyes, "Why do we need to do anything to celebrate?"

I considered that for a moment, she was right; it wasn't like we were romantically involved. I guess I just wanted to make her smile. Friends, always want to make their friends happy right?

"Just humour me. I've always been a sucker for Valentine's Day."

She studied my face for a second and shrugged, "Depends on what that something is."

"What do you mean?" I asked not liking where this was going.

"If it's something that cost you more than fifty dollars, take it right back because I am not accepting it"

I thought for a second and then shrugged, "That's fair enough"

I put her laptop on the chair beside her and lifted her by the ass and then wrapped her long legs around my waist as I kissed her and took her to the location of her present.

I entered my spare room and placed her back on her feet as I told her to close her eyes. "This didn't cost me a dime by the way, I promise."

Once I held it in my hand I went up to her and told her to open her eyes.

She seemed to be at a loss for words as she stared at the X-box in my hand. "Why did you get this?"

"I heard you arguing with Jason over the phone about it and I thought since I had one lying around, I'd give it to him."

"But how does that make it my Valentine's Day present?" she asked with a smirk

"I was hoping you'd ask that so I'd have an excuse to give you one as well." I smirked and handed her a carrier bag from Tiffany and Co. To be honest there was an iPod inside but she didn't know that and probably thought I was about to propose or give her a diamond necklace.

She hesitated a bit before she collected the bag, "What happened to the fifty dollar cap?"

"If I remember, you said it couldn't have cost me more than fifty dollars and it didn't" I shrugged,

"Then how did you get them?" she seemed confused.

"That's what I get for being the very young CEO of a very big company. I get wine and other things obviously but mostly cool gadgets. Now look inside the bag before you jump to conclusions in your head" I nudged her slightly.

She hesitated again but decided to open the bag. Her eyes widened as she took a look at what was inside and brought it out of the bag. She looked back at me, and then down at her gift then back at me again. "How did you know?"

I shrugged, "Does it matter?"

"Actually no it doesn't. I can't take all this from you." She said placing the gift back in the bag and handing it to me. "I can't keep taking all these things from you; you've done too much for me already"

She began to walk away from me but I held her arm. "Wait Thalia, Jason's birthday is in a couple of weeks at least let me give it to him for his birthday."

She looked at me and sighed, "Fine, but you can't give it to him till then." I nodded and let her arm go. I stood there for a minute staring at the Tiffany and Co bag wondering how I could get her to accept it.

"Come on boss, we need to work." She called at me from the living room and pulled me from my thoughts

"Yes ma'am!" I called back and sauntered out of the room to where she was seated in the living room working.

_Six Hours Later…_

"Done, finally!" she exclaimed as she hopped to her feet and stretched. I gazed at her, still wearing my shirt and her small underwear, and drank in the sight of this beautiful woman before me.

"If you don't stop staring and close your mouth, you'll attract insects" she said as she placed a hand on her hip and smiled down at me.

"What can I say," I countered as I lifted myself off the floor, "there is a hot woman in front of me and she's only wearing my shirt so I guess I can't help but stare." She blushed lightly at the compliment and as I leaned down to kiss her, the doorbell rang.

"Nico open the door, its Percy and Annabeth." Percy screamed from the other side of the door.

"Wait I'm coming you moron!" I shouted back. I looked down at Thalia who seemed to be chuckling. I slipped my hands under the shirt and rubber her sides as I kissed up and down her neck and at her collarbone. "You should probably go and get some clothes on; we don't want Percy seeing you this way do we?" I whispered against her skin.

She shivered but detached herself from me and winked at me as she removed my shirt, dropped it on the floor and then walked naked, bar her underwear, down the hallway.

She could be such a tease. I had to restrain myself from running after her as I walked to the door and opened it to find Percy and Annabeth and the twins. "Hey guys, come in." I hugged Percy and Annabeth who each had a twin on their arm.

They walked into my living room and noticed the two laptops and numerous papers. "Are you busy, do you have a visitor?" Annabeth asked.

"Yeah, Thalia's here if you wanted to see her, she's in there somewhere." I answered.

"Oh cool, I'll just go hang out with her then." Annabeth said as she walked into the hallway.

**THALIA**

I had just finished pulling up my jeans when I heard a knock in the door. "Hey Thalia it's me Annabeth" I turned round and opened the door for her, "Hey Annabeth! Oh my gosh is that your son? He is gorgeous!" I stretched out my arms to hold the little boy and Annabeth placed him gently in my arms.

I cooed and cuddled the giggling boy as Annabeth entered the room and sat on the bed. "So how are things with you and Nico?" she asks.

I momentarily forgot the lie Percy told and shrugged, "Same as any working relationship"

"What do you mean working relationship?" she asked and I froze as I remembered the ruse.

"Uh, how do I explain this." I said sheepishly. She raised her eyebrow at me, "Explain what?"

"Okay before I start, promise not to kill Percy."

"Did he do something wrong, why would I kill him?" she asked in a confused tone.

"Yes he did do something wrong but you have to promise not to murder him?" her expression grew more worried.

"What did he do?" she asked, "Is he in trouble?"

"He will be once I finish what I'm about to say," I mumbled under my breath and then sighed outwardly.

"I'm not really Nico's girlfriend and I never have been" I said with a rushed breath.

Her face was scrunched in confusion. "So why did Percy say you were, and why are you here at six on a Saturday evening?"

"Remember the day we met? Percy left his wallet at home and got Nico to send me down with a credit card he could use for your date. And I'm here because I'm Nico's secretary/PA at work"

Annabeth nodded her head. "So why was Nico without a shirt when we entered, surely that's inappropriate behaviour? Come to think of it, I believe I saw that shirt on the floor." She looked right at me, observing my reaction

I froze for a second then blushed as I remembered what we were doing or about to do before Annabeth and Percy interrupted us and I noticed Annabeth's gaze harden and intensify. "I guess we became friends from working together so often"

"Just friends and nothing else? Well that's funny because I can smell sexual tension a mile away and if I'm not mistaken, there was a lot of it that night we went for dinner and need I point out the _incredibly_ inappropriate dancing which led to a hastened exit by both of you, or the morning after glow on Christmas day _and_ New Year's Day? She drawled on as she circled me like I was her prey.

And in a sense, I was. She had me by the jugular and I could either lie and look bad, or tell the truth and look just as bad. I sighed, "No we're not just friends."

"You're sleeping with your boss?" Annabeth asked sceptically, "you know this makes you look like a massive gold digger right?"

I sighed, "I know what it makes me look like and I tried to stop but you've seen him, he's not exactly ugly or bad in bed either. And what makes it worse is that we work in such close proximity that he is virtually impossible to resist. Trust me, I've tried."

Annabeth nodded as if she understood but still wore a frown. "Do you think there's a possibility of there being a relationship apart from this?"

I frowned as well; I had never thought that far ahead. Did I see myself and Nico being more than fuck buddies? We were friends now obviously and he knew a lot about me but could we be more? "I-I don't know. We never really set ground rules but I don't think Nico sees me that way."

Annabeth's eyebrows rose and disappeared into her bangs, "You didn't answer though, what about you?"

I was left speechless again, I hadn't really thought about what would become of the non-physical side of our relationship. But before I could think in depth, Nico ran in with my ringing phone and handed it to me. "Hey Jason," I spoke as I picked up the call. I excused myself from Annabeth and Nico as I walked into the bathroom to take the call.

"Hey Thalia, I'm still with Leo and Lee and I wanted to ask if I could stay till tomorrow?"

"Sure Jason, just be careful. Oh and ask Leo or Piper if you can stay at theirs for the week. I have a business trip this week that I cannot avoid."

"Sure thing sis, See you tomorrow"

"Bye Jason." I ended the call as I walked back into the room where I overheard Nico and Annabeth arguing.

"You blew off your father Nico; you _never_ blow off your father for anyone so how do you explain that?" Came Annabeth's voice, "Think about it you know I'm right and Percy agrees with me. I never thought about it this way but now I have and I think you need to tell her the truth before it's too late."

I didn't want to hear anymore cryptic remarks that would keep me up at night. So I walked into the room and acted like I hadn't just heard the last part of that conversation.

**Ohh.. And the Plot Thickens…**


	12. Chapter 12

**Another Chapter Here xx**

**Reviewww**

**NICO**

I shook my head about to inform Annabeth of how wrong she was about the whole thing, but Thalia chose that moment to walk back into the room.

"That was just Jason, no big deal." She moved across the room to sit beside Annabeth and then looked up at me and smirked, "We were in the middle of girl talk, what is Percy boring you or something?"

"Hey!" Percy exclaimed as he walked into the room holding the other baby. "He ran away from me midsentence and he was the one talking."

"Right Percy of course we believe that." Annabeth answered sarcastically while rolling her eyes.

"Whatever" Percy grumbled, "Babe my mum's still expecting us with the kids, she just called to confirm so we'd better get going."

She smiled at his grumpiness as she lifted herself off the bed. "Bye Thalia, we'll probably see when you get back from the meeting and have more girl time okay?"

Thalia smiled back, "of course Annabeth, I wouldn't miss it for the world." She then stood up to pinch the children's cheeks and hug Annabeth and Percy.

I said my goodbye's to the couple as they made their way out and turned to find Thalia packing up her stuff. "Woah, where are you going?"

She stood up and raised her eyebrow, "To my house? If you had forgotten, I don't actually live here." She snorted and resumed her packing.

I stood there awkwardly watching her for a few seconds, "At least let me give you a ride back?"

"It is alright boss, I'm sure I can make my way back on my own" I continued shifting from one leg to another as I watched her gather all her belongings and place them in her bags.

After a few moments of standing there awkwardly, I walked into my room to get changed for a swim. If I was going to be all by myself on a Saturday evening I might as well do some exercise right?

I walked back out to see Thalia closing up her bags. There was a slight pang in my chest because honestly? I didn't want her to go. I racked my brain for an excuse to make sure she didn't leave but when I came up empty handed I blurted out, "Hey are you sure you need to leave, I mean we could watch a movie and hang out or something, it's better than being alone one a Saturday evening right?" Once that sentence was out, I tried not to outwardly wince at how desperate it sounded.

She gave me an odd look, "Actually, I have plans tonight…" she trailed off leaving an awkward silence between us.

"Oh, right cool. I'll pick you up at 12 on Monday, don't be late. Enjoy your weekend and close the door behind you." I walked away from her, removing the shirt I was wearing and dumping it beside the door to the pool. I hoped that didn't come across as rude but I didn't see any way to make sure I kept my pride and dignity intact.

XXX

I didn't notice the hour slip by but swimming laps eventually got boring so I scooped myself out of the pool and dried myself off with a towel. As I walked back in I noticed that the TV was on and I hoped it was Thalia who had decided to stay. But when I walked into the living room three men jumped out from behind the chair and screamed "BOO!" causing me to flinch inwardly but on the outside I just raised an eyebrow.

"Come on Di Angelo! At least act like you were scared!" one of them lamented as he fell into the chair.

"You really suck at things like this you know?" The second one grumbled as he walked round the chair to stand in front of me

"I knew it would never work but they forced me. How are you mate?"

I smiled now, "Hey Will, I'm doing great. When did you get back from London?" I asked ignoring the two imbeciles behind him.

"I actually just got back this morning and I convinced Castor and Pollux here that we ought to throw a surprise party for Jake Mason and in about an hour and a half, we got everyone involved, booked out their club, ordered extra booze and now we came to get you because you haven't picked up your damn phone." I noticed that his British Accent became a lot more prominent when he was ranting, but I still blushed at the comment, "Woops, I'm sorry. I'll be done in about thirty minutes if you guys want to help yourselves to some beers or wine or whatever."

I quickly threw together an outfit of a black button up shirt, black jeans and loafers. My top two buttons were undone so my black necklace was on display. I sprayed some of my favourite cologne, grabbed my wallet and phone then I left the room.

I got outside to find the guys looking comfortable with some beers as they watched a basketball game. They seemed so entranced in the game that they didn't notice me until I switched off the television right when one of the players took a shot.

"What the-?!"

"No!"

"Di Angelo you massive knob!" I smiled at their simultaneous cries of anger.

"Get over it guys, we need to get going. Do any of you have a car?"

"About that, we all caught a cab from the club so… no." Castor said as he ran a hand through his sandy blonde hair.

I rolled my eyes, "Guessed as much. Come on boys, it's time to party!"

We turned up at the club in my black Maserati a few minutes later. I parked in the back so I wouldn't draw to much attention to the busy New York club. We walked in right as everyone was screaming surprise for Jake and we quickly made it seem like we'd been there the whole time.

Will made his way up to the front with Castor and Pollux carrying two giant bottles of pink label Moet et Chandon Champagne bottles. He lifted himself onto the table and clapped his hands to get everyone's attention.

"My wonderful friends and family, today is the day where one of our very own was brought into the world and because of that, we must be jolly on this day. Jake Mason was one of those special spirits that the gods and or God himself ordained for greatness and on this day which marks his 27th year of being bloody amazing," he paused to let the cheers and whoops chorus, "We just have to band together and have the time of our lives, but more importantly make sure he has the time of his life. So Cheers to Jake Mason, the man of the day!" With that Castor and Pollux popped the two bottles and promptly started filling the guests' cups.

I smiled at his speech; Will had always been very good with words. He sauntered back over to me with a huge grin. "Nice speech dude, well said." I complimented him.

"Thanks Nico, so which lovely lady have you got your beady little eyes on today?" he asked throwing an arm around my shoulder.

I shrugged hoping he'd let it drop, but he pointed over to where a girl with back length wavy black hair stood. I couldn't see her face but her dress was tight and left little to the imagination. "What about that black haired beauty?"

I studied her about to say no because she wasn't a certain black haired woman I knew but I looked to the right and there she was talking animatedly to this other black haired woman. I looked back at Will and smiled, "you distract the one with long hair, and I'll take the one with short hair. Remember our strategy?"

He laughed then, "Yeah, divide and conquer! Gods, we were such knobs when we were 17 which reminds me, where are the Jacksons? Someone else was supposed to be on them." He craned his neck to search for the couple but stopped after he couldn't locate them.

"They're probably around here somewhere. Now to the main order of business, wish me luck!"

He ran a hand through his hair, and then made his way over to the two women who were standing against the wall. In a few minutes he had the woman's attention, leaving Thalia standing alone. I advanced towards her but kept out of her line of sight. Once the woman turned back to tell Thalia she was going to dance with Will, I walked up to Thalia from behind and whispered into her ear.

"You look absolutely beautiful this evening" She spun around and her eyes widened as she noticed who it was.

"Nico, What are you doing here?" she asked surprised. I stood beside her, "The celebrant is one of my best friends. What about you?"

"I dated the celebrant's younger brother and I'm quite good friends with some of his close friends..." She looked up at me for a moment, "which now includes you."

"Well so it would seem." I said moving closer to her.

"So, Miss Grace, would you like to dance?" I asked her with a grin.

She looked around for a second and then shrugged, "Yeah, why not"

I placed my hand around her waist and she placed her arms around my neck. I wondered out loud how she was able to do that so easily and she pointed at her shoes which were so ridiculously high, it was unreal. The rest of her outfit however was, for lack of a better way to phrase it, really sexy. Her dress was tight on the top with a lace see through back and then on the bottom it was loose with a flared skirt that stopped mid-thigh. Her make up really made her eyes stand out in a way that I thought suited her.

After a few minutes dancing very closely and talking, we spotted Annabeth and Percy seated on the far side of the club and decided to join them.

"Hey Mummy and Daddy, shouldn't you be with the twins?" I teased them.

"My mum heard about the party and threw us out without our kids. Something about us not going out enough for our ages or something like that." Percy smiled.

I shrugged, "Well, since you're here, we might as well play a few games and get completely hammered. Castor says close friends can use the rooms upstairs. So, who's game?" I asked with an evil smile.

Annabeth, Percy and Thalia exchange looks and there's silence for a second before they all crack smiles and give yells of consent. I smile even wider and call a waiter who looks frazzled. "First rounds on me guys!" I ordered twelve shots of tequila and a couple of minutes the waiter came back with the drinks. I picked up one and they all followed suit. I raised my glass to have the commemorating shot, "Well guys let the games begin and may the best drinker win" We all toasted to that and began our wild night.

XXX

Somewhere after my twelfth alternating shot straight of tequila and whisky I had successfully drank Percy, Annabeth and Thalia under the table and we were all totally wasted. I was slightly aware but even I had little to no coordination.

But the best part was, just about every single person who had been invited to this gathering was exactly the same. Except the people who had been made drivers, what an unlucky bunch.

Now Percy, Annabeth, Thalia stood around our table dancing wildly to some Bruno Mars song. I could not for the life of me remember what it was called. The next song that came on was a slow song which meant Annabeth and Percy resumed eating each other's faces out.

I looked around for Thalia and saw her dancing closely against some random guy and even in my extremely drunken haze I could feel the anger pooling in my stomach. I noticed him reaching his hand up her thigh and under her dress. Thalia was too drunk to notice what was happening but I wasn't going to let some random guy have his way with her, she was my girl.

I didn't even stop to think about what exactly I just said, or thought, I stormed over to where they were and pried her away from him. I hadn't been this angry in a long time, and being drunk as well didn't help my temper. "Get your hands off her you fucking bastard." I hissed at him.

"Why should I do that? She's a fucking whore dude and she's free game." he slurred trying to get her back in his clutches. Once he said that, I saw red and not a tint or light shade of it. I saw blood red. "She's my girlfriend and I'll show you exactly what happens when you try to screw with my girlfriend." I loosened my hold on Thalia to punch the sanity out of this low life, but she teetered slightly and nearly fell over. In that moment some of my anger dissolved and I reached back to grab her waist. At that moment however, she seemed to become less drunk because she snorted and tried to speak, "What are you talking about? You're my-" I had a bad feeling about where this sentence was going to end so I pulled her towards me and gave her a hard kiss.

Out of the corner of my eye, I noticed the guy grimace at our lip locked position and slither off to find another wasted woman to molest. I made to end the kiss but Thalia had other ideas, she tilted her head to the side and deepened the kiss. Only momentarily surprised, I tried to push her off me but she wasn't happy with that. With strength I didn't know she pushed me up against the wall and attacked my neck and sucked on that sensitive spot.

"T-Thalia, you n-need to stop." I stuttered out, my resolve slowly slipping away.

Unfortunately, stopping wasn't part of her plan. She distracted me enough that I didn't notice her undo my belt and trousers but I did finally notice what she was doing when she dropped to the floor in front of me and started giving me a blow job.

This is so wrong; there I was getting sucked off in a very secluded corner in a club by my assistant. I had to stop her somehow, but God she knows how to use her mouth.

I still felt like I was taking advantage of her so I mustered up all the self-control I had, which was pretty damn much because I was pretty close to coming in her mouth, and I pulled her off my dick.

I tried not to look at her face as I quickly put my trousers in order and lifted her off her feet. I hoped only a few people saw me because I don't know how I would explain why I was carrying my secretary up to a room after a wild night of partying.

I entered the first room I saw and I was mortified to see Annabeth and Percy seemingly trying to make more children. They were so into it they didn't even notice me. I quickly backtracked and went to the furthest room from the stairs.

Once I was through the door, I walked into the bathroom but before I could set her down properly, Thalia puked all over the front of my shirt and on her dress. She groaned slightly as she stood on her feet but I directed her to the toilet and held her hair over the basin as she emptied her guts.

By this point, most of the alcohol haze was clear from my brain so I took off my shirt and Thalia's dress, trying not to get too turned on by her in her lacy underwear and I carried her into the bed where she promptly passed out. I noticed the time and groaned, 5 AM. I was going to be shattered tomorrow but regardless, with that thought. I fell asleep.

**THALIA**

I regretted it the moment I opened my eyes. The curtains were closed so there was no sun but I still had a killer headache. I looked around the strange room and suddenly panicked. Where was I? Who was I with last night?

At that point, I noticed I was lying on top of someone, I peeked at this person from underneath my eyelashes and was surprised but immensely relieved to find that it was Nico Di Angelo lying beneath me. I tried to move but I noticed his arm was wrapped around my waist tightly, so I couldn't move.

The last thing I noticed was I was only in my underwear, "Did we have sex again last night?" I tried squirming away but it only seemed to wake him up.

"You know I have a wonderful view of your breasts from up here" I blushed furiously.

"Could you tell me why I am naked and on top of you?" I asked.

"Firstly, you're only three quarters naked; if you were fully naked I would know. Secondly the story for why you're three quarters naked is for another time. Thirdly, you're really horny when you're drunk. Fourthly at some point during the night you climbed on top of me and I didn't have the heart to push you off. So here you are, still straddling me.

I suddenly became aware of that and blushed madly at what he said. I tried to slip off him but his arm around my waist held me in place.

He smiled slowly, "I never said I had a problem with you straddling me did I?"

"I need to get home Nico, plus I have a head ache so I will not be straddling you much longer." I pushed myself off his body and clambered unsteadily, off the bed.

I looked round the room slowly, trying to ignore my headache but when I didn't find what I was looking for, I turned back Nico and found him paying attention to the areas of my body below my head. I snapped my fingers at him twice, "Hey, lover boy, up here."

He raked his eyes slowly up to my face and answered with a lazy smile and voice, "Yes Thalia?"

I blushed but kept my voice straight, "Where are my clothes."

"You puked all over them and all over my shirt too."

I groaned, "Was I that bad?"

He smiled but didn't give me an answer. He lifted himself out of his bed and over to the bathroom. I noticed he was in nothing but boxers. He went through a cabinet at the back of the bathroom and grabbed a couple of clothes.

He walked back out and gave them to me. "This is the best I can do for now. I'll be done changing in ten and then I'll take you home." My stomach chose that moment to grumble loudly.

He looked down between us and smiled, "Maybe I'll take you for breakfast too." I made to argue with him but he captured my mouth in a chaste kiss that made my knees turn to jelly and my thoughts to incoherent jargons. He really was too good at that.

"No buts" he murmured as he pushed me towards the bathroom.

I was so dazed by the kiss that I let him push me into the bathroom and shut the door behind me. He shouldn't be able to have this effect.

What on earth was happening to me?


	13. Chapter 13

**Hey guys here's the next chapter….**

**Enjoy… and leave comments at the end please **** Thanks!**

**THALIA**

By the time I got back to my apartment it was nearly two. I unlocked the door and called out to Jason to check if he was home. When I got no response I assumed he was still with his friends and made a mental note to call him later.

Right now, I needed to pack. Just as I got my small suitcase out, I heard my doorbell ring. "Who on earth could it be now, I need to pack"

I trudged over to the door and checked the peep hole to observe my visitor thoroughly and decide whether or not to ignore the offender. I was surprised to see one of my best friends, Silena, standing at the doorstep with a large bag of things.

"Sil, what are you doing here?" I asked my surprise and suspicion evident in my voice.

"I heard you were going on a "work" trip and I had to make sure you were properly equipped."

I scrunched up my eyebrows, "equipped for what?"

She raised her eyebrow, "For Nico of course."

My eyes widened as I backed away from her, "You wouldn't, and you didn't"

She smiled deviously, "I would and I did."

I groaned, "Silena!"

She laughed, "Now that you know there's no stopping me, come over here so we can get all this done and finish packing."

"Don't be surprised if you wake up and find a swarm of bees in your bed." I said angrily.

"You wouldn't dare, besides if you do that, I might die," she looked at me and smirked, "You know I'm deadly afraid of bees, you might end up giving me a heart attack and I do believe that counts as man slaughter."

"You. Are. Impossible." I emphasized slowly.

"How do you think I became so successful? It definitely wasn't by being a pushover." She snorted.

XXX

About five hours later, I had endured through all her torturous "outfit picking" and other beauty regimens. I lay, sprawled across the couch so tired that I could barely blink.

She brought my suitcase out of my room and then returned to fetch my large hand bag and laptop bag. Once she was done she stood there looking proud of her work and smiled widely at me before she noticed that I probably looked half dead. At that point, a small frown graced her beautiful features.

"Are you alright Thalia?" she asked concerned.

"Not really, so tired, didn't get much sleep." I managed to mumble

She rolled her eyes, "I wonder why that is" I heard her say under her breath but I was too tired to make a comment on it.

She helped me off the couch and onto my bed where I promptly passed out.

XXX

The loud knocks on my door the next day woke me up. I swore violently and scampered out of my bed towards the door, blatantly disregarding any and all pieces of clothing that littered my bed.

I ran to the door and checked who it was. Fuck, I thought as I realised who it was and why he was here.

I opened the door and let a fully dressed and very beautiful Nico Di Angelo into my apartment.

He raised his eyebrow and gave me a once over. "I'm sorry, I overslept. I'll be done in about fifteen minutes." I said sheepishly. I turned round and ran towards my bedroom, "Help yourself to any food or coffee or whatever!" I called back at him.

I stripped rapidly as I hopped into the shower. I made it as quick as I could, not bothering to wash my hair, and in a few minutes. I was out of the shower and in my travel outfit in record speeds. I doubted that even men could get ready as fast as me.

I grabbed my hand bag from my bed and stuffed my wallet and passport in while simultaneously brushing my hair. Once I was done, I ran outside into the living room, switching off all the lights and appliances as I zoomed through the house.

Nico looked bewildered as I switched off the television while he was in the middle of a program and then dashed back into the kitchen to double check everything. I ran back out to where he was now standing with a smile on his face. I tried to regain my breath and then looked around for my suitcase.

"I took it to the car for you." He explained when I realised it wasn't there.

"Oh, Thanks." I blushed. Okay, why on earth was I blushing?"

"Shall we?" he asked motioning towards the door. "Oh right, yeah lets go" I said feeling very articulate (not) as we left the apartment. I secured the door and followed him down the stairs.

Once we were in the car I dialled Jason's number.

"Hey Jason, What's up?"

"Oh, Hey Thalia, came home yesterday morning to get some stuff and you weren't there, where you with Nico again?"

I blushed at his directness and I knew it was probably Silena who was telling him all these things.

"I wasn't with Nico," I glanced over at Nico and saw him smirking, "I was at another friend's house who you don't know. Anyway, moving on from me, whose house are you staying at this week?"

"I'm staying with Piper because Leo's staying with Beckendorf this week and well, you know how they get sometimes."

I smiled, "That's fine, and Jason remember that you're still fifteen and you're sixteenth birthday isn't for another three months; Piper's isn't till august. Please don't do anything stupid. Jason spluttered over the phone and I could practically hear him blushing. I laughed, "Jason, hand the phone to Silena I need to give her some ground rules."

I heard him call out for Silena and soon she was on the phone, "Hey Thalia, how are you?"

"You saw me yesterday Sil," I rolled my eyes.

"I know that, but you could barely walk yesterday. Did Mr Tall Dark and Handsome come get you for your holiday?"

I groaned knowing Jason and Piper heard that and probably thought Nico and I were an item. "Silena it's not a holiday, its work!"

"Whatever you say Thalia, anyway, Charlie is here and we're taking the kids to Lunch. Have fun with your sexy boss, bye love."

Before I could argue any further, she cut the call and I growled in frustration. Nico who had silently been driving the entire time looked at me strangely.

"So, What was all that about?" he asked with a smile.

"You don't even want to know. My best friend is insane." I muttered as I buried m face in my hand.

I heard him chuckle beside me and groaned even more.

"So where am I staying once we get to Milan?" I suddenly asked,

He seemed confused, "In my house of course, where else would you stay?"

I blushed, "I don't know, don't you live with your dad?"

He smiled as he caught what I was implying, "Yes, I do live with my father, don't worry Thalia, we'll always have our alone time."

I blushed even more and shrugged. "Does he know?" I asked.

I noticed the smile on his face loose its natural beauty and look more forced and His hand tightened on the steering wheel.

"No, he doesn't know," was all I got in response.

I wondered why he seemed so tense, did his father think that I wasn't worthy of the air of a multi-million dollar empire, or did he think there was an ulterior motive to why I was screwing his son?

Nico didn't look as if he was willing to volunteer any more detail on the matter so I placed my head on the window and observed the general public as we made our way over to the airport.

I was surprised when Nico pulled into a private aeroplane field. He drove in and parked a couple of feet away from a black sleek private jet.

He disembarked from the car and walked towards the man in uniform, who I assumed was the pilot and shook hands with him. I stepped out of the Jeep and slipped on my sunglasses. I wasn't sure if I should join Nico or just stand there so I pulled out my phone and acted like I was texting somebody.

I observed Nico who continued chatting amicably with the pilot. He wore black jeans and a dark blue polo shirt with black loafers. On his wrist was a nice sliver watch and on his face he wore black ray ban aviators.

His white pearly smile contrasted with his naturally tan skin in a very sexy way that made my stomach flutter in lustful adoration.

I noticed him walking back towards me with two other men in tow. He smiled at me and beckoned me over. I walked as confidently as I could in the killer heels that Silena chose for me and smiled slightly at him.

"The guys are going to get our stuff and put them on board. I want to introduce you to the captain who is the son of one of my dad's business partners and an old friend of mine." I nodded at him and followed him over to where the man was standing.

The captain was good looking, I had to admit. He was almost as tall as Nico with brown hair and beautiful green eyes. He smiled at me kindly once I stood in front of him.

"Ryan this is my assistant Thalia and Thalia this is our awesome pilot Ryan."

I stretched out my hand to shake his but he took my hand and placed a gentle kiss on the back of my palm. I blushed as he looked into my eyes and smiled, "The pleasure is all mine Thalia, pleased to meet you."

I smiled back, "Pleased to meet you too Ryan"

Before we could carry on the conversation, Nico interrupted, "Well, now that we're all acquainted, we need to get a move on; Dad is expecting us." He pulled my hand and led me up the stairs into the plane.

I was bewildered by his strange behaviour but I smiled back at Ryan and waved at him. He seemed amused but waved back anyway.

Once I was up the stairs and out of sight I turned back to Nico, "What was that all about?"

He seemed genuinely confused, "What?"

I tried to gauge his expression for a second to determine if he did that on purpose, but his confusion seemed legitimate so I shrugged and walked through the cabin to one of the large chairs.

"Why didn't you tell me you had a private jet?" I asked looking around the beautifully decorated aeroplane.

He shrugged, "That's because I don't have one. My dad's best friend owns Olympus Airlines which has its own fleet of private jets that can be rented. This one is called Hades' Chariot and it was designed for my father.

I nodded, "that would explain all the black and skulls; although, it is still really beautiful."

The next thing we heard was the Pilot giving an announcement. "Hello guys, we're about to take off. Our flight time today is eight hours and we are flying directly to Milan. Please fasten your seatbelt and get ready for take-off."

I got as comfortable as I could in the aeroplane and took a glass of scotch which was served by an airhostess. I noticed that when she went over to Nico to offer him a drink she made sure to push her chest out even more and was smiling very flirtatiously.

Nico seemed completely oblivious to her advances and smiled politely at her as he accepted a drink. I rolled my eyes as she pouted while making her way towards the back of the plane.

Once she was out of view, Nico, who was seating in the chair opposite mine unbuckled his seat belt and moved over to the seat beside mine.

"Did you know that if you had asked, that air hostess would have gotten on all fours and been your dog for the rest of the day?"

Nico chuckled, "I am slightly aware of that, she wasn't very subtle. However, I already have my dog." He hinted as he winked at me.

I feigned anger as I punched him in the arm which made him laugh even more. I pouted and crossed my arms over my chest.

"You know now you just look like a petulant kid?"

"Fuck off," but that just made him laugh more. This of course made me crack a smile.

I noticed that the plane had started to move which made me panic slightly. "Nico, I really hate flying so I'm going to be asleep for most of the flight"

He nodded as he studied my face and probably noticed my slightly nervous look, "That's alright Thalia, I'll be right beside you the whole time and I'll be here when you wake up."

That immediately helped me calm my nerves. It was amazing how soothing his voice was.

I reclined my seat and got comfortable and as the plane began to accelerate, I drifted off into sleep still thinking of the words Nico had just said.

**NICO**

I watched her shift in her sleep as the plane began to accelerate. My mind continued roaming, even if my eyes were fixed on her sleeping form.

She was so beautiful and just watching her beside me did weird things to my tummy and my chest; It was probably because of the plane taking off.

I tore my eyes away from her and looked outside the window as we made our way into the clouds. What was Thalia doing to me exactly? We were friends, very close friends and we were having sex. Did that make us friends with benefits?

I thought so, but there was another thought niggling in the back of my head as I too drifted off to sleep and my subconscious seemed to be trying to supress it because it believed that I shouldn't be thinking that way.

The thought was stronger though and as I slipped into a deep sleep it popped into my brain.

_I don't think I want to be just friends._

**And the plot thickens…**

**Updates are going to be a bit scarce now because I have quite a bit of work on at the moment…**

**However, I would love for you guys to read my one shot "I knew you were Trouble" (on my profile) if you have time…**

**Thank You!**


	14. Chapter 14

**Hello… This chapter is rather short because the next chapter is going to have a lot in it and also have some plot twisters. woooh.**

**I'm really busy now so bear with me.**

**Thankss… REVIEW **

**NICO**

_I woke up and found myself in the bedroom of my home in Italy. On the bed beside lay a dark headed woman who was still asleep. _

_I got out of bed and noticed that I as devoid of any clothing but I didn't care. I looked around the room and noticed a few differences; there was a vanity filled with make-up and other feminine products and this was beside my drawer of clothes which also held my colognes and other things._

_That was odd; I don't remember adding a vanity to the room. And why were there so many female touches in the room? I noticed there were some pairs of heels arranged beside the vanity, one of the large wardrobes which had an open door contained dresses and bags._

_I heard the woman groan, maybe she was the reason that all this stuff was here. Was she my girlfriend or my wife or something?_

_The woman lifted herself out of the bed and walked toward where I was standing. "Thalia?" I called out incredulously. She lifted her head and smiled at me slightly while stretching her naked figure demurely._

_Doing that made two things happen; one, I got horny, again. And two, seeing her smile made my heart swell and then accelerate and my stomach grew unstable with butterflies._

"_Hey, did you have a nice sleep?"_

_I pulled her into an embrace and nodded. The close contact of our naked bodies seemed to wake her up because she kissed me on the lips and soon things escalated and I found myself in bed with her._

_It was different this time though, I wouldn't say it was just sex, it was more than that. I shifted her under me as we both drew towards the end and while I reached up inside of her I gazed into her eyes and let the fire continue to consume me. Even through all the panting, the passion in our eyes was still ardent and it flowed through each of us, using our intimate connection as a bridge. Right before I made her reach her peak I whispered into her ear, "I love you." She didn't seem surprised at all; nor did I feel like that was the first time I had confessed my overwhelming feelings for her._

_As we came down from our ecstasy, she rubbed her palm along the planes of my face and face and whispered those same words to me. She still continued to rub my face and I noticed an object which felt like metal trailing up and down my face. _

_I took her hand in mine and there, sitting on the fourth finger of her left hand, was a very special ring._

I woke up with a start and looked around me. That was all just a dream.

I stood from my chair and tried to absorb everything that had happened within the frame of time in which I had fallen asleep. Had we been married in that dream or were we about to get married?

That ring on her finger was what surprised me the most.

I walked towards the bar to pour myself a drink. As I stood there sipping on my drink, I contemplated what life would be like in the next four years.

By then I would be nearing thirty and I would like to have a family. But was Thalia the kind of person I wanted to have a family with, or was I just infatuated by her and our great sex?

I turned back towards where we were seating and watched her sleep as the plane continued moving smoothly through the flight. I might as well talk to my father to make sure he has everything ready; the plane would be landing in a few hours and I didn't want to have all this time to myself to think.

I picked up my cell phone and dialled his number, "Hey Dad," I greeted.

"Nico, how are you my boy?"

"I'm doing well; we're on the plane on our way to you now."

"Finally, I get to see and spend time with my son after he ditched me over Christmas and New Year's."

"Dad, I didn't ditch you, besides you seemed to be pre-occupied with your new woman whom I still haven't met." I smirked.

My father switched languages to Italian now, "You'll meet her soon enough, besides I would like to meet the woman who encouraged you to ditch me, and if I'm correct, that woman is supposed to be your secretary."

I blushed slightly at his comment but replied also in Italian, "Dad, I already told you, nothing is happening between us."

"Nicolas Alessandro Di Angelo, do not lie to your father, I can hear you blushing. By the way, that background search has found some interesting informational leads. But nothing is certain, when it is I'll discuss it with you."

"Dad," I whined, "I'm not lying and I'm not blushing either!"

"Whatever you say Nicolas, remember, I don't care who she is or what she does, as long as you're a hundred percent sure she's legitimate you have my blessing. True love doesn't come to just anybody and it can be taken away very quickly, trust me, I know. Cherish your time with your soul mate, if and when you do decide to find her. Don't be ignorant; love can come from anywhere, at any time and by any means."

"Yes father," I knew my mother's passing really scarred my father and I'm not quite sure he ever got over it.

"Do you still have the necklace and the ring?" he asked.

"Yeah, they're locked up in the titanium vault." I reassured him.

"Good, you know the story behind that jewellery. Find your love soon so they can go to her."

"I will father, always."

We talked for a while after that but mostly about football and tennis. I also tried to guess who his new lady was by playing twenty questions with him but I didn't even get half way there.

Once I dropped the phone, I noticed Thalia was looking at me. I was startled for a second because I didn't even know she had woken up.

"Hey, how long have you been up?" I asked.

"About ten minutes," she responded with a smile and a voice still thick from sleep, "How much longer do we have before we land?"

"I don't know, I'd say about an hour and a half?" I answered.

"Great," she muttered. I heard her stomach grumble lightly and chuckled.

I stood up and walked towards the back of the plane, "Could I have the menus please, we're ready to eat." I asked the male air host who had been taking inventory.

"Right away sir" he replied,

He dropped what he was doing and pulled our two menus from a neat stack inside a drawer.

I took them from him and smiled graciously. I turned to leave and heard him say,

"I'll be right over to take your orders sir."

I looked back at him and smiled, "thanks a lot." And then I head back to where Thalia was waiting.

This time I took the seat opposite her and handed her a menu. "So, what would you like to eat?" I asked her with a smile. She returned the smile graciously and looked down to begin considering her options.

A few hours later, they were pulling away from the runway strip in a black town car. Nico had missed his home; he hadn't been to back to Milan since before Christmas.

Thalia looked out the window in awe; all she could think of was how beautiful it was here. As they got closer to the town centre she stared in awe at the narrow streets filled with people. Her eyes nearly popped out of her head when she saw the Duomo Cathedral as they drove through the streets.

About thirty minutes after we passed the Duomo, we pulled up opposite my home. From the outside it looked the same as it had since I was last here.

I could barely control the smile on my face as I turned to Thalia who was standing beside me staring at awe at the building, and pulled her into the house. The house had been modernised over the years but there was a section that was dedicated to my mother, which had all her antiques artfully placed to suit her style. My father never redecorated but he always ensured that it looked absolutely spotless.

**THALIA**

We walked through the large anteroom into the even larger living room and I was in awe. The house was absolutely magnificent.

It had wide arches and polished marble floors. Around the walls there were large art canvases and some smaller pieces were scattered around. As I looked up I noticed the two very large chandeliers hanging down from the ceiling and if I was right, they were made of real diamonds.

A section of the opposite wall of the room was made up of French doors which led out onto a patio with what looked like a deck pool.

The grand staircase at the other end led up to a kind of balcony type view and when I looked up I noticed the figure of a man, who looked to be around his mid to late forties standing there looking down at me.

He started making his way down the steps and at this point, Nico had turned and begun walking towards the edge of the staircase.

I stood by the side watching as father and son had their reunion. It was nothing outwardly over emotional but I could tell it meant a lot to them. They spoke briefly in Italian and I took that time to observe the similarities between Pluto Di Angelo and his son.

They both had similar builds and heights. Nico had definitely gotten his eyes from his father and also his aristocratic face but their noses were quite different. Soon both men turned to me and I had the urge to squirm. I had never thought of what an angry Nico would be like and just looking at his father's expressionless face, I was sure I didn't really want to find out.

"Miss Grace, it is so nice to finally meet you. I have heard many good things about you" Mr Di Angelo said. His accent was definitely thicker than Nico's who only ever had a weird lilt on some of his words.

I smiled and held out my hand to shake him, "It is a pleasure to meet you too sir." He smiled and shook my hand warmly. He had a nice smile, like his son, but it wasn't the same.

"I take it you both had a nice flight?" he asked us both.

"Yes father are the rooms ready so we can go and freshen up,"

"Yes they're ready and I'll leave you guys to rest for the remaining day, I have a meeting I have to attend in a few minutes but tomorrow we will begin the presentations. I'll be having some guests over too who can help with giving an opinion."

Nico scrunched his face up, "Who?"

His father just smiled mischievously, "You'll see tomorrow won't you?"

At which point Nico groaned and his father chuckled, "See you tomorrow kids" he said as he walked out the front door.

I looked at Nico, "Your father seems really nice and your house is amazing."

He shrugged, "my mum loved to design and decorate so that's what you get. My dad is just my dad I guess." He looked down for a second then looked up again, "So, how would you like to go on a tour of the house and then of the surrounding area?"

I smiled and nodded, "Lead the way boss."


	15. Chapter 15

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**Now we have a nice shift in the plot. I hope you all like it…..**

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**THALIA **

The week had been absolutely marvellous. Once we had the first day of presentations with Nico's dad's best friends, Poseidon and Zeus, the rest of the week was filled with slight alterations on the original plan and some work meetings. But mostly, it was filled with outings, home dinners, group breakfasts and nice evenings with Nico.

Poseidon and Zeus she found were great men. She knew that Zeus had been married once before, and had lost his wife, a son and a daughter due to circumstances that he wasn't ready to share. But Poseidon was still happily married to his second wife and Percy's mother Sally.

She had come to feel as if she was part of this family and once she got used to Nico's father and he got used to her, they got along better than anyone would have expected, especially Nico. Sometimes Nico forgot that his father didn't really trust Thalia and was having her background researched.

**NICO**

I watched as Zeus, Poseidon and my father argued about which was the safest way to travel over a long distance; Air, train, or water.

"They argue about this all the time, literally every time for the last twenty years" I commented dryly.

Thalia chuckled but took another bite of her dinner. "They have such different personalities"

I nodded, "they have been friends forever and I guess after that long, they are able to live with the differences."

Thalia continued to watch observe them arguing and I continued to watch her. Something struck me about the way she took sips of her wine and she watched them. She seemed to notice me watching and looked over at me. I smiled at her and she winked at me then continued to observe them.

Just then, Zeus took off his glasses and was observing Poseidon and my father still arguing and then he picked up his wine and took a sip too. There was an uncanny resemblance between them. I couldn't believe I hadn't noticed it before. The eye colour was exactly the same and the small smile that they both wore just accentuated the similarity.

My father seemed to have noticed this and he caught my eye and gave me a look. That meant we had to talk ASAP. Tomorrow was our last day together and we were leaving right after lunch so it would have to be tonight or tomorrow.

"So Thalia, what's on the agenda once you finish your degree, have you thought of what you would like to do?" Zeus asked, now taking a break from the usual argument.

Thalia smiled but refrained from glancing at me. We both knew what she would be doing but I don't think she wanted Poseidon, Zeus or my father to know about it. "I haven't made up my mind yet but I would maybe like to continue where I am but at a different department more suited to my qualification."

Poseidon smiled and glanced at me, "Why do you say that?" I had a feeling that question had more behind it that I realised. Thalia however just ignored any double meanings the question had or she didn't notice.

"I have enjoyed working at such a diverse company and working directly under Nico has given me the opportunity to see how it all works on general terms. I would love to actually be working within the company where my talents are suited."

Poseidon seemed satisfied with my offer and smiled even more widely, "My Company works more with the sea both in leisure and other avenues. Percy had the initiative to start a division that deals with Marine life and safety for companies who want to drill oil in any large body of water. That is where Pluto comes in, he drills for oil and gems and we protect his company from environment damaging mistakes but at a very high price. But my point is we have a very busy finance department and I have been impressed by your ability so far so, if you ever need a job, call me."

I smiled on the outside but I was panicking. "Now, now Poseidon stop showing off. Thalia my dear, we have space for you too at Olympus Airlines and services." Zeus added with a smile.

My father however, rolled his eyes. "I thought we had a deal about not poaching employees off each other. There is a reason for that rule you know."

Poseidon's eye's sparkled mischievously, "I know, but something tells me that this situation is going to be very different."

Zeus just chuckled but stood up to leave at which point Poseidon followed suit. "As much I would love to sit and chat with you lovely people. Poseidon and I have to be back in the United States tomorrow, the wives are hounding."

The rest of us stood up and took our turns bidding them goodbye. Initially, Thalia stood awkwardly to the side but once I had said goodbye to my two favourite uncles, they both looked around for Thalia until they noticed her standing off to the side.

"Thalia child, what on earth are you doing over there?" Poseidon asked, "Come here and give old Don a proper goodbye." Thalia seemed surprised as she shuffled over to him and gave him a hearty handshake and hug. She did the same with Zeus and soon the two men left the building with my dad following behind which left Thalia and I alone.

"They really like you." I commented as I walked to where she stood.

She kept quiet though and didn't answer me but she continued to stare at a spot on the floor. I observed her closely and soon I saw a tear glistening on her face.

"Thalia what's wrong, what's happened?" I asked. She shook her head and ran away from me.

Before I could follow her, my father returned with a concerned look. "Father, we can speak tomorrow, I need to talk to her now."

He looked like he wanted to protest but he nodded, "Go son, good night"

"Thanks Dad." I smiled at him and ran in the direction Thalia had gone. I found her in her bedroom lying on her bed and staring at the roof. I entered and locked the door behind me.

"It seems like I forgot to lock the door." She said. I could hear that her voice was thick with tears and that only worried me more.

I made my way over to where she was and lay down beside her. "Thalia, you know you can talk to me,"

She sighed and turned over to face me, "I've never had a father or much of a family, my mother passed away from a liver cirrhosis disease when I was 17 but thank fully she had some savings," she stopped to think for a second before continuing, "actually a lot of savings which helped me keep the apartment and get through college. I eventually sold the large apartment and moved into a smaller one and I was doing fine going through graduate school until Jason came into the picture. I don't regret it at all, it is nice to have some family but I had never had a father. Now I come here and there are three of them all at the same time. I guess I got a bit overwhelmed."

I nodded, "They really do like you and if you stick around, you might have just got yourself three new fathers." I winced because if my hypothesis about her and Zeus turned out to be true, I wasn't sure how she was going to take it.

Right at this moment however, Thalia cracked a smile and shuffled over towards me until there was no space between our bodies. "Well, considering our current deal, it seems like I'm going to be around for a while." And then she kissed me.

I kissed her back but my mind still lingered back to her last comment. So was that why she still stayed with me and planned on staying with the company even after she graduated, because she owed me and thus she felt she had to? I tried not to think of that as my hands trailed up her beautiful black dress.

We took our time, not wanting to send the other over the edge so quickly, we teased, we tortured but most of all, we felt and we enjoyed. The heat and passion were unmistakeable but I wasn't sure I wanted to point it out because I felt like that might take away the vitality of the whole thing.

After the intense sex, we lay there on our backs panting and staring at the ceiling. "That was…" she started

"Yeah" I said, not exactly sure how else to describe it.

There was this awkward silence as I lay there allowing my body continue to tingle and she just continued to stare at the ceiling until eventually we both fell asleep.

I awoke before her and slipped out of her room and into mine. Once there I noticed that the clock said eight thirty, our flight would be leaving at one this afternoon so I decided that now would be the time to speak to my father.

I slipped into a pair of sweat pants and a tank and then I made my way over to where I knew he would be. I stepped out onto the balcony and saw him sitting there talking urgently on the phone. He saw me and gestured to the seat beside him.

"Are you sure?" he asked. Someone on the other side of the phone responded and my father just nodded.

"Thank you for everything, the money will be transferred to your account before twelve." He shut his phone and looked at me.

"He's her father isn't he?" I asked.

My father nodded, "Her mother took them away and lied to Zeus about the whole thing. Changed their last names to Grace and changed her first name from Anna to Alexandra, changed the boy's name from Henry to Jason."

"But she left Thalia's name, why?" I asked confused.

"Who knows?" he shrugged, "Now the problem is what we are going to tell them and how. I can't even predict how either of them is going to react to this. Zeus pined for his family for a long time before he found new love in Arielle."

"I can't believe I didn't realize this before, after all the time I have spent with her, I should have seen the signs and the similarities." I placed my head in my hands.

"It's alright son, many men have fallen for such a ruse. We will sort this out as soon as possible." My father tried to reassure me. At that particular moment Thalia walked onto the balcony and greeted us.

I noticed my father stiffen and force a smile on his face. He stood up and gave Thalia two slight pecks on each of her cheeks. This had become normal procedure but even I could tell that the gesture was more detached and cold than usual.

I looked over at Thalia and it seemed like she noticed his strange behaviour. His phone then rang and he excused himself.

"What happened?" she asked as she sat down where he just was.

I looked at her for a second. Now that I knew who her father was, the similarities just kept coming but I finally broke out of my thoughts to answer her, "Nothing," I stood up and took her hand, "You need to go pack, we're leaving earlier than planned"

"What's going on Nico and don't lie to me," she pulled me to a halt and forced me to look at her.

I saw the worry and confusion in her beautiful blue eyes but I couldn't tell her, not here and not now. I had to cover this up for now, I bent down to kiss her softly, "Nothing Thalia," I whispered into her ear, "My dad just thinks its leaving it to late if we leave at one because we have work tomorrow and I don't want us to be jet lagged."

She shivered but looked into my eyes for any sign of dishonesty. Eventually she nodded and continued walking beside me.

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx xxx

**THALIA**

I couldn't help but think about what I had heard this morning before I had come out on the deck to meet Nico and his suddenly cold father.

They had been talking about not seeing signs or similarities and he said something about me, I think. The plane ride had been quiet. Nico advised me to get some sleep because we would be arriving very early in the morning and we would have to go to work. But I couldn't sleep through the entire flight so I spent the first half of it watching him sleep.

I knew he had lied to me this morning when he said nothing was happening and I thought it was because it had something to do with me but I couldn't be sure.

Now I was at my apartment and it was five thirty in the morning so I decided a jog was in order. I ran through central park still trying to decipher what the two men had been talking about, but I couldn't figure it out. All I knew was that it was probably to do with me and it wasn't very good if Nico's father's attitude after words was anything to go by.

Over the next week and a half, I barely saw Nico. He was immersed in the planning for the Milan week and somehow it felt like he was avoiding me. But even I was busy ensuring that I was studying for my finals and spending some quality time with my brother.

I was at the office on the a few hours before the Milan week crew were due to depart. Everything was hectic around me but as I dug through my bag trying to find my cell phone, something caught my eye. Once I saw it I started counting the days but something didn't quite add up. It seems like I had missed my period.

I sat there confused, that made no sense, the only way that could happen was if I was pregnant but I couldn't be pregnant because I was on the pill. That reassured me for about three seconds because then I remembered the period in time where I had stopped taking the pill but I hadn't stopped having sex with Nico. In fact I was pretty sure that it was during the weekend I spent with him before we went to Milan.

Now I started to panic, for the love of all that is holy I couldn't be pregnant! I had exams in a few weeks. Suddenly my breakfast felt like it wanted to come up and out and I ran to the bathroom.

Fuck, I might actually be pregnant.

**NICO**

I came out of my office to ask Thalia for some files when I saw her make her way to the bathroom while clutching her mouth and her stomach. Everyone else was making their way to the bottom floor to get on the bus that would be taking them. Thalia couldn't come because of her exams and I couldn't miss the first part of the show so I had to go too.

I instructed my temporary assistant to get my things into my car and I ran towards the bathroom to make sure Thalia was alright before I left. I walked into the bathroom which was thankfully empty and I heard crying.

"Thalia, are you alright I saw you run towards the bathroom." I asked as I checked under the stalls for her.

"I'm fine, now go away." I was surprised at how normal her voice sounded. If not for the fact that I heard her crying a few minutes before I might actually have believed her.

"I am sorry but I can't do that so come out and tell me what's wrong"

I heard the flush of the toilet and Thalia walked out her face looked absolutely normal and she looked very sexy in her skinny jeans, fitted polo shirt and pumps. But I could tell she was angry.

"Do you want to know what's wrong Di Angelo?" she asked with a sinister smile. Something told me that this wasn't going to be good but I still nodded.

She walked up to me and wrapped her arms round my waist while kissing up my neck and pressing her body against mine. I felt her hands making their way to my jeans and she unzipped them and dug her hands into my boxers.

I stopped her before she could go any further and forced her to look into my eyes. "What is up with you Thalia?"

She yanked her hands free and walked towards the door. I did up my pants ready to grab her hand before she ran off.

She looked back at me and I saw a tear drop fall before she spoke, "I think I'm pregnant."


	16. Chapter 16

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**Here's another chapter, I'll try to get the next one up ASAP because I have my final exams soon and I won't be up dating for about two months or something.**

**Thanks! Xx Enjoy…**

**THALIA**

I made it all the way to the parking lot before I realised he wasn't going to come after me and that shattered me. I thought he was different, I thought he was the type who wouldn't quit on you. But I guess deep down he was still a rich bastard who runs away when any big responsibility came that he couldn't take care of with his money.

It was a good thing I had the rest of the month off to finish studying for my finals in the last week of March. I didn't think I could handle seeing him and knowing that when I told him that his child was growing inside me he just froze and did not possess the decency to say _anything_.

But who was I going to talk to, who was going to help me through this? Annabeth came to mind. She had mothered two children at a ridiculously young age, had finished university and was now very successful.

But could I do that all on my own, what would happen to Jason? He was too young to give up his childhood helping his slutty sister take care of the illegitimate child of her boss.

She bit back a sob as she thought of the mess her life would be reduced to in the coming weeks. She knew she had to be strong, for Jason, for herself and most of all for her unborn baby.

NICO

I stood there in shock as I watched her run away. Something in my brain told me I should probably run after her but my body was still in shock. I could not move.

I finally remembered how to walk when I felt my phone vibrate; I got it out and probably sounded like a zombie as I answered it. It was my new temporary assistant Roberto, "Hello sir, I'm in your car waiting for you. The coach has already gone off toward the airstrip"

"Oh right, I'll be on my way down." I answered as I made my way downstairs.

I was relieved to see I wasn't the one driving because I was pretty sure I was too distracted to do anything but think about the news. I wanted a family, definitely, but this was a huge shock. I would most definitely be supporting Thalia throughout this entire thing because I was part to blame for this.

I spent all the time thinking of what it would be like to be a father, I was so involved in my thoughts that I almost didn't notice when we were on the plane and subsequently when I fell asleep until we landed in Milan seven hours later.

I was shaken to my feet by Roberto who grinned and said, "Welcome home sir, the car is waiting for you."

I smiled slightly at him. He was a good kid from a less well to do background who I employed part time because his mother was very ill and he needed the money. He was in his last year of high school trying to get into Yale on a full scholarship.

"Thank You Roberto."

I wasn't allowed to go to my house, we were taken right to the venue of the event and I had to personally oversee the handing of the jewellery and bejewelled pieces to all the designers. The last person I had to hand the designs too was Silena. I walked over to her stall mentally exhausted already.

"Silena" I smiled as I greeted her.

"Nico!" she ran and gave me a hug and then she started searching for someone, "Where's Thalia?"

My smile faded, "She has exams soon so we both thought it was better that she didn't come for this particular show."

Silena caught my expression change, "What happened Nico and don't you dare try and lie to me." she asked with genuine concern.

I had known Silena for a very long time and so had Thalia. I knew she was one of the most trustworthy people I would ever meet and I had to tell someone before I imploded. "Promise me you will not tell anybody." I whispered to her.

She nodded, "I think Thalia might be pregnant." She gasped in shock.

"And you're sure it's yours?" I nodded, "Thalia doesn't strike me like the type to be sleeping around so I'm ninety nine point nine percent sure it is my child."

"Oh Nico, apart from looking completely unprofessional I don't see the problem. I mean it's not as if everyone knows you guys have been sleeping together?"

"Yeah I know, if you look at it that way, it's absolutely fine. But think about Thalia, what is going to happen to her. Let's not even mention the fact that she's mad at me right now-"

"Wait, why is she mad?"

"Um, well she told me she was pregnant and I sort of froze. By the time I unfroze I had to get on a plane here and I sort of haven't called her." My voice kept getting lower.

"You what?!" Silena screeched. She brought a phone out of thin air and I wasn't sure I wanted to know where it came from.

"Call, NOW!" she shouted, drawing looks from nearby.

I called Thalia's number and she picked up after the second ring, "Hey Silena," her voice sounded wary and tired.

"Hey Thalia it's me"

"Oh, what do you want? To tell me I'm fired?"

"No why would I fire you? I jus-"

"Because I was inappropriate and careless but I'm guessing you're calling to tell me you can't take responsibility for this child or I should probably abort it because it has the potential to ruin your life well you can piss off" She finished her rant and dropped the phone.

Silena looked at me, "Well, what did she say?"

"She thought I wanted to fire her and then she thought I wanted to tell her to abort the baby and then she dropped the phone one me."

Before Silena could say anything, one of the main coordinators called all the designers up to start the run through. The show was tomorrow evening and they had to run through it at least twice to make sure everything was perfect.

My job now was to stand here with my jewellers and make sure that any problems with the jewellery pieces were fixed to perfection. For obvious reasons, I was distracted but I was in luck, none of the pieces developed any problems so my mind was free to speculate or roam as it pleased.

What was going to happen now, would I have to marry Thalia? I knew my father was going to be absolutely livid, with good reason. He had warned me many times to never get involved with my secretaries at work and up until Thalia came round, I had never experienced even a slight hiccup while following that rule. Now in one try, I had not only broken the rule but also done the next worst thing, provided evidence of it.

The scandalous stories were what my father would hate the most. A thought occurred to me, if she was discovered as Zeus's first child and the prime heir to his massive fortune, it wouldn't be so bad. It was a very well-known fact that the two men, along with Poseidon, were practically brothers. All in university together, they had made their own routes to power and money. Pluto's had been a lot more to do with his inheritances than with pure luck like Poseidon's, but all the same they were now all immensely wealthy. It was not unusual that the children of two very wealthy families were joined to form an even more powerful coalition but why would one start off as a secretary to the other?

My head was so wrapped up in these speculations that I almost didn't notice when the rehearsal was over. Roberto tapped my shoulder and brought me back to the present day, "Sir, your car is ready to take you home."

"Oh, yes Thank you Roberto."

I walked out into the crisp evening air and got into the car. Roberto slid into the front seat and the driver started the engine. It was not unusual that my assistants would stay in a guest room in my house but at this moment I realised I missed Thalia's presence.

As soon as we arrived at my house, my father beckoned me over. "Father," I greeted him with a quick hug, "What is the problem."

"It has been confirmed again. She is Zeus's first daughter and her brother, is his son."

I nodded, "We already knew this, what else is new?"

"Well, her mother was a drunk and she is not a gold digger as far as her records have shown. She has had previous boyfriends but none of extraordinarily high status."

"Father, I am a hundred percent sure she is not a gold digger, as I told you before." Nico rolled his eyes.

"Yes, I know that but I wanted to be sure." He took a seat on one of the lounge chairs. "So, how are we going to tell Zeus and the children?"

"I don't know. She's been independent for a long time and she and her brother have gotten very close now that they're used to each other, introducing another long lost family member is probably not going to be easy on her" I speculated.

My father nodded, "We must tell them soon though."

"I know, but she has some very important examinations soon and I would hate for this to distract her." The guild racked my body as soon as I realised that there was every possibility that she would be highly distracted by the news that she was pregnant.

I sat there incessantly worrying about the impact of my carelessness on her life that I didn't notice my father trying to talk to me, "Nicolas, are you listening?" he asked gently tapping my arm.

"What? Oh, sorry father I am just a little tired from the journey." He studied me momentarily but he didn't seem to notice my lie or if he did, he chose to ignore it.

"Alright Nico, I'll talk to you on the way to the rehearsal tomorrow, you're right, it has been a long day" he smiled, "Good night Nico."

"Good Night Father, see you tomorrow." I exited the living room and went straight to my room still pondering what would become of Thalia.

Xxxxxxxxxxxx

"Thank You Ladies and Gentlemen for coming to what is one of the largest gatherings of fashion in the world! Now, a round of applause for our main designers and accessory providers!" The announcer shouted to the audience first in Italian and then in English.

There were only about forty of us in total and we were supposed to go in groups of ten. I walked onto the main stage and waved for a few seconds before I had to go back off again and that was it, another fashion week completed. It was late on Saturday evening and the after party was starting as soon as most people finished here and went to the venue.

I was shattered and my mind was just not in the party mood. My flight was taking off by seven tomorrow evening and there was nothing more I wanted to do than just sleep my day away.

My father was staying around a while longer to talk to some business clients but I had informed him I'd talk to him tomorrow before I left. I climbed into the limousine and continued thinking about Thalia. She had been on the forefront of my mind ever since she gave me the news. I called her numerous times but she never picked up her phone, she had exams soon and she shouldn't have to be bearing this burden on her own. I was trying to at least show her that I wasn't going to just leave her on her own; the child was half me after all.

Once I got home, mentally and physically drained, I went straight into my bed and collapsed into a deep sleep.

I didn't get up till 12 the next day and even then, I didn't go looking for breakfast till around 1 or thereabouts. My father was nowhere to be found, still probably catching up on sleep. I was just finishing the eggs and bacon with sausages the chef cooked for me when Silena walked in wearing her no nonsense face.

"Get up, now and let us go outside. We need to talk" she spoke calmly which was much worse than if she was screaming.

As soon as we made it to the patio she grilled me, "Have you spoken to her?"

"I tried but she is not picking up any of my calls." Silena exhaled then, "She isn't picking up mine either."

We sat in silence for a moment but then she asked the question I had been dreading since the beginning of the week, "What are you going to say to your father?"

As if to spite me, another voice came, "Say to me about what?" my head snapped up and there stood my father.

My first instinct was to lie but he knew me way to well for me to get away with that. Silena looked between us and stood up to leave she knew this wasn't something she should be here for. "Good Morning Sir," she said politely. They had met before and my father knew her mother so he smiled slightly, "Morning Silena how's Aphrodite and your sister, oh, and your fiancé, Beckendorf?"

"He is doing well sir, as are my mother and sister, thank you for asking. Anyway I must be on my way, have a nice day and Nico, bonne chance" She smiled at my father again before making her way out.

"Why, Nicolas, do you need good luck?"

I sighed; there was no going back now. "Father you might want to take a seat for this."

"No."

I winced, that was never a good sign, but I took a deep breath and just blurted it out.

"Thalia might be pregnant and I am hundred percent sure it is mine."


	17. Chapter 17

**Next chapter! Very quick like I promised…**

**Thank You soo much for the reviews.!**

**This chapter is more mellow I think more in the next chapter though :D**

**NICO**

My father stood there staring at me for what seemed like eternity. When he spoke again he had his "I am so angry I want to break something but I don't like to shout" voice on, "What happened to not being involved with her?"

"Um, it seems like I was more involved than I thought?" That was probably the worst thing I could say and as was entirely predictable, my father did not find it amusing.

"Nicolas Alessandro Louis Frederique Di Angelo, do not crack jokes with me right now!"

Shit I was so fucked, my father just used the extended version of my full name. This was going downhill at an alarming pace. He stood up and started walking away from me, "Follow me." he commanded. I scrambled to my feet and ran after him.

We went into the private room of his private room, which he reserved for being livid and bellowing at me, and he turned to face me. "Do you have any idea what you have done? How can I even be sure this is just not some trick by her to get a wedding ring? You know what, don't answer that. I want you to get her to terminate that pregnancy and then I will have my lawyer draft a contract to keep her silent!" My father furiously ranted.

I was frozen in shock, like _hell_ I was going to do any of that crap. "No."

His head snapped up, "What do you mean by "no"?" His voice quivered with rage and I almost backed down,_ almost._

"I mean no I am not going to get her to terminate and no you are not drafting a contract of silence."

My father glared at me and his anger was palpable from where I was standing: scratch that, his anger would be palpable from the _moon. _

"why not?" more of his controlled quivering anger voice.

"Because this was my mistake too and if I remember clearly, Bianca Di Angelo was born under similar circumstances. So no I am not going to make Thalia stay silent for something that was half my fault, instead I am going to beg her not to hate me for the rest of eternity because she got the shorter end of the stick. I have the opportunity to run away from this and she doesn't, she has a bright future ahead of her and if I have to give up certain things to make sure that the baby does not stop her from reaching her full potential, make no mistake, I will sacrifice those things for her."

My father knew what those things were; they were the position as CEO of his company. The choice between my father and Thalia would be a lot more difficult to make. He had been there for me through everything; he had raised me on his own and gave me the life he thought was best for me. I was sorry for what I had done but not sorry enough to completely succumb to his crazy requests.

There was silence in the room and I knew it was time for me to leave. "I'm sorry father, I never wished to break your rules and ignore your wishes but Thalia is…" I stopped, I wasn't sure how to complete the sentence, I couldn't find the words. I just shook my head and looked at my father who stood there staring at me.

"I'm sorry father." I said once more as I left the room. I called Roberto and told him to ensure the plane is prepped for an earlier departure. The kid, being smart knew to keep silent and steer clear out of my way for the entire duration of the trip.

**THALIA**

I completely ignored his calls and even Silena's calls. I wasn't in the mood to receive any visitors or questions on my pregnancy. All I was focused on was my examination, I had spent some time with Jason but I felt sorry for the boy, his 16th birthday was coming up and we hadn't even had the chance to discuss what he wanted to do. I wasn't even sure I could afford to do much but I had been saving up for a while. Even it came down to using some money I had been saving for serious emergencies for the last four or so years, I would use it all in a heart beat to make him happy.

As a graduate student I was lucky that I did not have many papers to write. I had mostly written reports and a Final Thesis to do. So this week was the week where I had my final three papers.

It was an effort to keep the events of the last few weeks out of my head as I tried to study but I succeeded. I threw myself into my work and I managed to come out of each paper feeling like I had actually done okay. I finished on a Thursday but I knew I didn't have to be back at work till The Monday.

I had been dreading finishing these exams because they ultimately meant that I had to return to the real world and face all my problems. Firstly I had to sort out this being pregnant issue and the only person I knew who could help me was Annabeth. As I finished my exams that evening I took out my phone and dialled her number.

"Hey Annabeth, it's me Thalia."

"Oh, hey Thalia, what's up?" She responded, her voice sounded cheery and relaxed which was always good.

"Something's up and I need to see you personally to talk to you can I come over?"

"Yes of course, you're in luck I just took the rest of the day off. I'm on the way home now."

"That's great, text me the address?"

"I will, bye Thalia, see you soon"

"Bye Annabeth" she hung up and I felt my phone vibrate as I received her text.

I made my way over to the address she gave me; it was somewhere over on the Upper East Side. When I saw the place I couldn't say I was surprised that Annabeth and Percy lived here.

I walked into the lobby of the extravagant building. The concierge asked who I was here to see and when I mentioned the name Jackson, he called up the apartment to ask if they were expecting anyone. I could completely understand the sentiment, in a place like this they wouldn't want any of their clients to be endangered by a slightly haggard and tired looking woman.

The concierge placed the phone down and smiled at me, "Floor 10." was all he said. I expected a door number but as I got out of the lift I understood. How could I not have considered the fact that they owned the whole damn floor?

I tentatively knocked on the door; "Coming!" came Annabeth's voice from inside.

"Thalia, it's great to see you! Come inside." She smiled and gave me a hug before shuffling me into the house.

"Is Percy home?" I asked nervously looking around.

"No, he's coming back in a few hours. He said he had to see Nico first."

I tensed and she noticed, "Did something happen between the two of you?"

"Yeah, that's what I wanted to talk to you about." I looked her concerned face and she gave me a nod to encourage me.

"I think I might be pregnant." She gasped.

"Oh Thals, have you taken a pregnancy test?" I shook my head.

"When do you think the baby was conceived?" I blushed as I thought about it,

"That weekend that you and Percy came over.."

"And have there been any other signs?" Thalia didn't get the point of these questions but she answered anyway.

"No I haven't felt anything out of the ordinary since I missed my Period." She sat there confused as Annabeth began to smile, "What, why do you look so happy?"

"Thalia I am nearly 100% sure that you are not pregnant."

"How can you be so sure just by asking a few questions?"

Annabeth rolled her eyes, "You'd be amazed the things doctors can find out just by asking a few questions. Now get up and follow me"

I stood up and did as she said but I was still confused, "But you're not a doctor you're an architect!"

"Oh shut up and just do as I say!"

A couple of minutes later I sat there with a pregnancy test feeling very relieved but slightly sad. I wasn't pregnant, science and Annabeth's formidable reasoning had proven that, but the idea had kind of grown on me since I found out, I just didn't realise until there was no possibility of it being true.

After I got the news, I told Annabeth everything that had happened between Nico and I since I first had the pregnancy scare, now we sat in her kitchen celebrating my non pregnant state with a bottle of wine.

"So what are you going to do now?"

"I don't know, I really need this job and the high pay but we are scheduled to go to Paris for the fashion week and I can't beg out of it. But it means spending a week in very close proximity to Nico in the city of love."

"You make that sound like it's a bad thing. Percy and I were thinking of coming along with the kids for a couple of days."

"I think I've had enough drama with Nico to last me forever."

"So you're saying that this is the end of whatever thing you guys had before?"

"Definitely," I nodded trying to believe it myself.

Annabeth rubbed her chin and observed me, "Somehow, I don't see this ending so easily or so quickly."

I rolled my eyes, "First you're a doctor and now you're psychic pick one Annie!"

"Don't call me Annie! I hate that name."

"Whatever, Annie." Thalia smirked at her pout.

xxx

A few hours Later, I decided it would probably be best for me to go home and get some rest. Jason would be waiting for me anyway and I promised him that we'd discuss his birthday today. Although I loved hanging out with Annabeth and was very grateful to her for all her help, I wasn't quite sure I wanted to be around when Percy came back home from visiting Nico.

Speaking of Nico, he had left me numerous messages all telling me that he needed to speak to me but not actually saying much else. I knew he wanted to see me in person but I also knew I wasn't ready to face him. He was yet to pop up at my door which was a relief as well as a disappointment.

I reached my house a few minutes later and let myself in. I was surprised to see my younger brother and his girlfriend making out on the couch. "All right you two, break it up!" I shouted abruptly which probably scared the shit out of both of them.

"What have I told you about you and Piper being alone in the apartment?" I asked making the two teens blush furiously.

"You said you'd be back by five, it's six thirty!" Jason defended himself.

I raised my hands up in mock surrender. "By the way, Nico came by with his friend Percy." I froze and turned to him and tried to keep my face calm, "What did they want?"

"Nico said something about travel plans for Paris to sort out, apparently you're leaving in a week. They waited for about an hour and a half but Nico got some urgent call about a Jewel that needed top level certification to be released and it could not be late so he had to leave."

I exhaled; nothing drastic had happened in my absence, "Is that all?"

Jason shifted and glanced at Piper who gave him a nod of encouragement. "You know how it's my sixteenth birthday in a couple of days and spring break starts tomorrow?"

I nodded still slightly cautious of the direction that this was going in, "Well, Piper and Leo are going to Paris with Silena and Charlie so I was wondering if I could go with you?"

I was stunned but I shook my head, "Jason, you know I can't afford a ticket for you to-"

"I know you go on the private jet with Nico I wouldn't even have to buy a ticket!"

I shook my head, "Jason, he's already done so much for us, if I ask him for this it just seems like I am taking advantage of him and he's my boss not really my friend."

Jason snorted but continued to plead with me, "Please Thalia! I've never been anywhere before and my two best friends are going to be done for most of spring break!"

I felt my heart break but I couldn't swing this, not after what had just happened between us. "I'm sorry Jason, but this isn't how things work in the professional industry…"

"When did it become professional to have your boss sleepover in your house on Christmas and New Year's?" Jason muttered before making his way into his room.

I stood there shocked at his attitude and I felt so guilty that I couldn't do more about this.

"He'll come down eventually and I'm not going to leave him here all alone and go gallivanting off to Paris with my sister, don't be too hard on yourself." Piper placed a comforting hand on my shoulder before walking in the same direction Jason had gone.

I really wished I could swing this, but it just wasn't going to happen this time. Annabeth had spoken of her and Percy being out there with their children for Easter and if she thought about it, it sounded like a great idea but she just couldn't afford it right now.

She made her way into her bedroom to get ready for bed. This weekend was going to be a long one and come Monday she had to face Nico and as much as it pained her to admit this, even if she was angry at him, she still missed him.

**PS**

**THE SEA OF MONSTERS TRAILER IS OUT. CHIRON HAS BEEN CHANGED BUT CLARRISSE LOOKS GOOD.**

**AHHH SO EXCITED FOR THE MOVIE. **


	18. Chapter 18

**THALIA**

**I** decided to go in extra early so that I could sort my desk out and give myself time to prepare for this confrontation.

I rode the lift up to the executive floor and was pleased to see Katie already at her desk.

"Thalia! You're back, how were your exams?"

"They were fine thank you, how are things around here. I hope everything didn't fall apart without me?"

Katie rolled her eyes, "Regardless of how important you think you are, Nico got a part time assistant while you were gone: A Lad a bit younger than you called Roberto; excellent young man."

I nodded, "That sounds great but I hope I still have my old job?"

"Of course, you're probably the best assistant he's had ever. The rest of them have always been too artificial but you, I think he genuinely respects."

That made me smile and blush and in response, Katie winked. Her phone rang at that moment so I took that time to escape to my desk.

I sat down and arranged the stuff in my desk and then I made sure I looked calm and collected. I didn't need him thinking I was falling apart just because of his absence.

At exactly Nine thirty AM I was surprised to find that instead of Nico Di Angelo; Pluto Di Angelo walked out of the lift and made his way into his son's office only stopping to beckon me into the office with his two fingers.

I scrambled out of my seat and followed closely behind him: I entered the office and made sure to shut the door behind me. I walked forward to the centre of the room and he stopped me with a hand as he reached the desk and sat on it.

"Good morning Thalia."

"Good Morning Mr Di Angelo."

"I'm going to get straight to the point and I would like to ask you some questions and I hope you answer them truthfully. I would also like to ask that you do not interrupt me until I am done. Also I hear you had some examinations, how did they go?"

Thalia had a feeling she knew where this was going but she answered his question, "They went well sir, thank you."

He nodded. "Now, you know my son is a young billionaire and from what I heard when he hired you, you were in need of a source of extra finances when he hired you."

Thalia could only nod.

"Good, you also know that he is only a few years older than you and was without a partner when you began working for him. So I think that you could have seduced him if you tried and thus gotten him into bed with you."

Pluto Di Angelo looked straight at her without breaking his gaze. "I hear that you may be pregnant and if that were to be the case, the child would be Nico's?"

I thought I was going to die of anger, embarrassment and frustration but I nodded in response.

"So now I want to ask you honestly, was this your plan from the offset to get wed to a wealthy young bachelor so you wouldn't have any worries in the world?"

He thought I was a gold digger? Thalia was frozen. Is this how Nico presented me to his father just some whore who he sleeps with and thought she wanted to rid him of all his money. Did he send his father to do his dirty work?

When she didn't answer Pluto Di Angelo continued, "Nico is my son Miss Grace, the one thing I care about most. I must ensure his safety and wellbeing. I don't want him falling for the same ruse many men have fallen into before him. I have seen friends of mine fall into the same trap and some of the signs and similarities where there. "

I had to admire him then; he was only doing this to protect Nico. But something else he said triggered my memory. I gasped as the pieces fell into place. Nico couldn't have believed I was a gold digger could he? I remembered that morning when he had lied to me that nothing was going on. His father had used these same words then.

I could not believe this, my entire frame shook with anger and sadness. The tears welled up in my eyes but I looked up long enough to answer his question. "No I am not a gold digger who tried to ensnare your son."

At that moment Nico walked into the office and the only thing I could think to do was walk over to him and slapped him across the face. "That morning before we left Rome you told me it was nothing but really you and your father were discussing how I was a gold digger, I thought you held me in higher regards than that!"

Nico rubbed his face in confusion and noticed his father sitting there looking slightly worried. "What did you say to her?!" he asked his father.

Before he could get a response I answered him in a venomous tone. "He asked me if I was a gold digger trying to milk you of all your money with my baby."

She walked closer to him, "Well I'm not pregnant I took a test and wanted to tell you as soon as you arrived but I was subjected to this." She couldn't stop the tears in her eyes from flowing down her cheeks anymore.

"I'm not pregnant for you Nico Di Angelo and you're too much of a bastard for me to want to have your babies." Thalia was walking out of the office but Nico grabbed her arm.

"Thalia you don't understand, that morning on the balcony we weren't talking about you." He rambled on desperately before realising what he had just said. "Wait we were talking about you but not to decide if you were a gold digger. My father had a background check done on you when I hired you and he found out who your father was!"

"You did a background check on me why?"

"Standard procedure for every secretary I have"

I rolled my eyes in disdain but calmed down a bit. He knew who my father was? I was curious now. "So who is my father?"

"Zeus is your father Thalia."

I can't say I was expecting that one.

_**Aloha everyone. I apologise profusely for my long absence. I had my final exams which I have now finished and I also completed my Duke of Edinburgh gold expedition. Yay! So it has been busy for me. I am back now and I have loads of ideas for new stories. Hope you enjoyed this chapter. It is a bit sort but the next one will be longer. This story is coming to an end soon. Probably over the next two three or four chapters but I'll start the next one straight away.. Love you all thanks for the support!**_


	19. Chapter 19

**Thalia**

"Zeus? Zeus that I met a couple of weeks ago at your house is my father?"

I wasn't sure what to do, this could all be total bullshit that Nico was spouting just to make sure that I didn't leave or it could be the truth and Zeus really is my father.

"And why should I believe you?" I challenged him.

"Have I ever lied to you about anything major before?" he countered.

He had a point there but it was all a bit too farfetched for me to believe it.

"I'm sorry to say I don't believe you." I responded.

"Nico is not lying Thalia, Zeus is your father. Your mother ran away with you and your brother a while ago for reasons unknown to us, she changed her first name and your brother's first names but left yours untouched and then she adopted a new last name for all of you. She left your name the way it was."

I took a second to absorb all this, "Does Zeus know about this?"

Pluto Di Angelo shook his head. "Zeus is in town though and wants to have dinner; we could all go so that he can be introduced to his family. "

I frowned, "Woah, slow down. I need to see DNA test results or Birth certificates before I agree to all of this. I don't want Jason to be involved in something that turns out to be just a false alarm."

"That can be arranged; I will inform him of the discovery and get some DNA from him. I have some friends at a Lab who can do the analysis for me: just give Nico a strand of your hair or something."

I nodded as he placed his suit back on and packed up all his stuff before heading out of the office door. Once again I was left alone with Nico.

He stared at me for a few minutes in the room filled with silence and all I could do was stare back. Eventually, he looked down and sighed, "So you're really not pregnant?" he asked, I nodded.

I expected him to look happy about this turn of events but actually, he looked rather…disappointed. "You don't seem too happy about that." I mentioned. His head snapped up, "Why would I be happy?"

"Because you're the heir to a billion dollar company, you're 25, and it wasn't planned. Hell, we're not even in a relationship. I'm pretty sure that when you told your father he wanted to kill you." I ranted, "Let's not forget the fact that you and your father clearly thought this was a ploy for me to get married to money." I ranted.

He stayed silent for a few seconds and then shook his head and sighed. "I called you the night I got to Milan and you didn't let me talk, you jumped to conclusions. Why on earth would you ever believe I would fire you because I got you pregnant, wouldn't that just be counter-productive?"

He walked over to me before continuing his little speech, "I called that night to apologise to you and to tell you that if you wanted to keep the child I was willing to do everything in my power to make sure that the baby didn't destroy your future. I had this discussion with my father and as you can imagine, he was not pleased." He chuckled like a memory of that evening was funny. "Also I didn't think you were a gold digger that was my father. I didn't even know that he was in the country until I walked into the office and saw him sitting there. Nico stopped a couple of centimetres before me and proceeded to wrap his arms around my waist and pull me closer to him.

My body tingled under his touch but I knew that if I didn't pull myself away from his smouldering gaze and electrifying touch we would end up in a compromising position. I placed my hands on his chest and pushed myself away from him. "I think I've had enough of this illicit relationship and all the drama it brings don't you think?" I felt the knots in my chest beginning to tighten and I felt sick just saying those words.

Nico didn't try and hold me closer to him when I pushed his hands off; he just looked at me with sad eyes and then dropped his gaze to the floor. "Right, uh, okay then. I respect your wishes and, uh, if that's what you want I'll stay away from you." He shuffled away from me and went towards his desk.

"Nico, we can still be friends and colleagues we just can't sleep together anymore."

He nodded, "I get that completely but Thalia, but I am still very attracted to you so it is going to be difficult for me. I want to make sure I respect your request and to do that I'm going to have to take some pretty drastic measures." He sighed, "I need to leave the office for a while: I don't think I should be here right now. If you'd like to give me some of your hair, I'll take it down to the Lab where my father will be." He opened a drawer in his desk and got out some clear sandwich bags. He then walked back towards me and stopped before he got too close to me.

I pulled out some strands of my hair and watched as he placed them into the transparent bag. He looked up at me and an awkward silence hung over us. I tried to hold his gaze but the intensity of it threw me. There wasn't just lust in his eyes, there was something else but I didn't know what. He dropped his gaze to the floor and began to walk out of the office.

He stopped abruptly mid stride, spun around and walked briskly to where I was still standing, and then he kissed me, he _really_ kissed me. I could feel my head spinning and my knees buckling as he prolonged the kiss but all too soon it ended and we stood there gazing at each other for a few seconds before I turned my head away and stepped away from him again.

He took that as the sign he needed because this time, he walked out of his office and didn't look back.

**NICO**

I definitely had strong feelings for her and I realised that when her rejection made me feel like there was an animal or monster squeezing my heart and my lungs from inside my body. That kiss was my last kiss and I was happy I got a chance to do it. Now I wasn't sure what I was going to do; I had feelings for her, I possibly even loved her, but I couldn't fire her because I made a commitment to her.

I got into my car and drove off towards the hospital where my father said we should meet. Once I arrived at the parking lot, I saw Uncle Zeus's car a couple of spaces away and knew they were probably all freaking out. I made my way into the building and saw my dad and uncle talking to one of the doctors. "Father, I have her hair is everything okay?" I asked as I reached them.

"Yes of course everything is fine; we were just waiting for you." He answered.

"Ah, this is the second specimen I presume." The doctor asked as I gave him the bag he peered inside it and nodded, "Excellent, I will have it done as quickly as possible the results should be messaged to you in about three hours."

"Thank you Dr Solace." Zeus thanked him and shook his hand and my father followed suit. I nodded politely to him as I followed my father and uncle out of the establishment.

"So what now?" I asked.

"We are going back to the office to sort out the orders and other things for the Paris fashion week; you'll also be able to do the presentations. Poseidon, Zeus, Aphrodite and Apollo will be in tomorrow to give their opinions on some of the centre pieces for our show. Remember it's only in a week and it's the biggest one of them all so it has to be spectacular!" my father decided to add jazz hands to his little outburst.

Zeus chuckled and rolled his eyes at my father. "Do you want us to meet for Lunch or should I come to the office?"

"I honestly don't think you seeing Thalia today is a good idea, I think she should have time to absorb the information and talk to her brother before you see her. I think she'll prefer it that way."

My father and Zeus exchanged a look but Zeus nodded, "If you think that's best, I'll trust your judgement." He looked at me before turning his gaze to my dad, "I guess that means you're coming out to see me and Don then." Zeus chuckled. I rolled my eyes at their immaturity and made my way back to the office in my car.

Xxxx

The rest of the morning was spent with Thalia, My father and I poring over pictures of the outfits and matching the jewellery the designers requested with them. It took a lot, actually all of my will power not to sit there and just watch Thalia move around so easily and still look so sexy. My father left at some point to go to his own office and then lunch with his friends but now I kept remembering many of encounters Thalia and I had in this office, one of which happened on the chair I was sitting on right now…

_The entire office had closed down but I still had some work left to do. I had called Thalia back because I was in desperate need of her help and I was getting very frustrated and angry at my computer. She walked into my office in shorts and a tank top which just showed off her endlessly long legs. I did a double take when she walked in and stared at her as she walked from the door to my chair and sat comfortably on my lap. _

_She focused her attention on my computer and continued typing furiously: when she leaned forward I could see her smooth back and I was captivated by this until she said, "All done!" and stood up to lean on my table. _

_I looked at what she had done and sat there bewildered by how incredibly amazing she was, that was one of the moments that my feelings for her deepened even though I hadn't realised it yet. I looked up at her and down at the computer once more before I grabbed her by the hips and made her straddle me before kissing her deeply and pouring all my previous frustration and anger into the kiss. She seemed to feel all the tension in the kiss because she picked up the pace and the fervour with which she kissed me. _

_We didn't bother with my clothes, we took off her shorts and underwear with haste and I freed my member but left my trousers to hang around my knees. She faced with her back towards me and then sunk her body onto mine. We had a fast and hard pace going and both of us knew that it wasn't going to last very long. I held her hips and made sure she came down on me hard and then thrust my hips up sharply to meet hers, she moaned and panted my name and as we were both about to reach our climaxes I increased the pace even more and she leaned forwards slightly to hold onto my desk which just made me sink deeper into her body. After a few more thrusts we both came simultaneously and I had to hold her up so she didn't face plant into the floor. _

_Once we'd caught out breaths she stood up uncertainly and then turned to face me with a wide and sensual smile, "When I see this chair I'm always going to remember that."_

I am only brought out of my reverie by the sound of my phone ringing. I am also not surprised to find that my dick has come to life. I take a look at the caller id and answer it, "Hey dad, what's up."

"Nico the results came back and Thalia is indeed Zeus's daughter please inform her of the news and ask her how she would like to proceed from here. Zeus is currently in shock and is beyond excited to meet his children although he knows how strange it will be just getting a father at this age he still wants to be a part of their lives." Pluto explained,

"I understand, I'll tell her now, bye dad," I said as I dropped the phone.

"Did the results come out?" Thalia spoke to me for the first time since this morning. I nodded in response. "So what were the results?"

"Thalia, Zeus is definitely your father it was a perfect match."

She stood completely still for a few seconds and I was afraid she wasn't breathing so I moved over to where she was, "Thalia are you okay?"

She nodded, "I've always wanted a father and now after 23 years I finally have one but what if he doesn't want to be a part of my family? What if he hates the idea of having a 23 year old daughter and a 15 year old son?" she started to panic and I wrapped my hand around her shoulder.

"Thalia, you've met him before and he loves you. I was just on the phone with my father who is with him and he told my father he was very excited to meet your brother and be a part of your lives. You have nothing to worry about, you just have to tell your brother now and decide when you and him would like to meet your father." I rubbed circles in her back that I knew would calm her down.

"Look, I can take you home if you'd like and be there when you talk to Jason or I could bring Zeus over to yours when you're ready. It will all turn out fine Thalia, and I'll be there 100% to help you every step of the way unless you tell me not to." I knew it was a bit of a heavy confession and possible not what she needed right now but I had to let her know how much I cared about her and that she didn't have to do this all by herself.

She nodded silently, "Could you possibly take me home so that I could talk to Jason. He's upset with me right now because I cannot afford his ticket to Paris for his birthday. Maybe this will be a better birthday present than Paris.

"But, Thalia, you weren't flying commercially either so why would you need to buy him a ticket when you know there's loads of space on the jet?" I asked confused.

She gave me a look, "Nico I can't take advantage of the privileges of work like that. You're my boss and it's wrong.

That irritated me, "Thalia, we're age mates and we're friends. I don't care that this friendship started as a result of work but that's not all it is now. We're not just boss and assistant; we passed that a long time ago. We're friends Thalia, I am your friend and I would appreciate it if you stopped condemning our friendship to the same boundaries as an office relationship because I don't know about you but you mean a hell of a lot more to me than any of my other assistants have." I took a deep breath and looked away from her shocked expression. "Let's go to your house, my dad wants your decision soon so he can tell Zeus."

I grabbed her arm and walked her out of my office making sure to let go once we stepped out of the room and got onto the main executives floor so we didn't draw suspicion. The car ride to her house was silent as I expected and she called Jason to tell him that she was coming home early because she needed to talk to him about something important.

Once we got to the apartment and Thalia had let herself in we were greeted with the sight of a bunch of teenagers all watching a movie with popcorn and soda. Jason and Piper got up when Thalia and I walked in and followed us to Thalia's room.

Thalia gave me a look and I nudged Piper and tilted my head towards the door. We both left the room and gave the two siblings some space. "So are you and Thalia a thing yet because I have a bet going on." Piper asked as we stood in the kitchen waiting for them to come out.

"We were never going to be "a thing" Piper, don't let Silena poison your brain." I said as I rolled my eyes.

Piper shook her head, "You young adults forget that I am excellent at reading people and it's hard to lie to me. I know you like her or are probably in love with her. You came here drunk out of your mind looking for her and that could only mean you guys were or are involved on a more than official level."

I shrugged noncommittally; she sighs and shakes her head. "Nico there's no point in denying it. I know how you feel, I-"

"Piper, Piper, they found my father!" Jason interrupted her speech by running into the kitchen and hugging Piper fiercely. He looked ecstatic and then he turned to me, "Nico, I just want to tell you that you're the best, no seriously you are. If my sister refuses to marry you, I definitely will." I laughed as Piper hit his arm but he was so happy that he just pulled her into another embrace and kissed her on the lips.

I noticed Thalia standing at the door of the kitchen, "I guess he wants to meet his father then?"

She nodded and I noticed that there were tears in her eyes. I walked over to her and placed my arm around her and pulled her towards me so that she could cry on my shoulder. I pulled her out of the kitchen and into her room and just sat on the bed with her.

I realised that I didn't mind if she was staining my Kiton K-50 suit, or if I had to sit here for hours waiting for her to calm down. All I wanted was to be the one to make her smile again when she had let all her frustration out because I was in love with her.

**Finally he admits it… wooohh… now things are really winding up… There won't be a sequel for now but if anyone has any other story idea's they'd like to see just leave a review!**

**Love x**


	20. Chapter 20

**Nico**

As I drove to my father's apartment that evening, I sat and remembered what had happened earlier this evening,…

_I sat there holding her, soothing her, as she cried her eyes out for reasons I wasn't sure of. The moment I acknowledged my feelings for her I could literally feel my heart expanding. _

_She eventually stopped crying and looked at me, "I hope I didn't ruin your suit?" _

"_It's alright you didn't ruin my suit" I answered although I was sure that there had probably been some serious, but small, damage to this suit. I wiped some tear drops off her face, "Why the water works Thalia?"_

"_I have never seen my brother so happy, not ever. He wants to meet Zeus today this evening if possible and I just feel like he's looking for a way to get away from me because I'm not a good older sister." She confided in me. _

"_Thalia you're a 23 year old recently finished student who had to take care of a 15 year old sibling you didn't know you had for the past year. You've made sacrifices and have been willing to make sacrifices to make sure he got the best out of life, you're a wonderful sister and I am sure Jason knows that." _

_She nodded and seemed to realize the position we were in so she detached herself from me. "So what now?" she asked me. _

"_Well it depends on you really, do you want dinner at a restaurant or at his place or your place, say the word and I'll have it organised for you. You could even organise it yourself if you really wanted."_

_She stood up and walked towards the door, "Tell Zeus to suggest a place and give you the address. I prefer if we are meeting on more neutral territory." With that she left the room. _

_It didn't take long to organise the meeting. I spoke to Zeus directly and he suggested one of his favourite pizza places which was quite posh but a good choice nonetheless. Once I had told Thalia I decided now would be a good time to give her some space so that she and her brother could discuss whatever needed to be discussed. _

_I gave Piper a ride home and tried to avoid all her questions but asked her many about what she wanted to do with her life and her aims and dreams. She was a very interesting and talented girl and I could see why Jason liked her so much. _

My father's cook brought out dinner as I sat with my father trying to watch television (though I wasn't really succeeding). My mind was constantly being occupied by thoughts of Thalia-be it her legs, her eyes, her laugh, her mannerisms –she had completely taken over my mind.

"Something on your mind Nico?" my father asked, concerned.

I didn't want to tell him yet, in fact the only person I did want to tell was Percy so I shook my head, "No father, just thinking about how crazy today has been." He let it go but he had always been able to read me too well for my own good so he knew I was lying.

I picked up my phone to send a message to Percy and he replied saying he'd meet me at our favourite bar in an hour. Once I was done with dinner, I excused myself to change into jeans and a polo shirt and then made my way over to the bar where Percy was.

X

I walked all the way to the edge of the bar where our usual booth was positioned and slid into it opposite Percy. "Dude, what's up?" he asked immediately.

I recounted the entire situation from where we left off and included Thalia's new rejection and my own recently developed feelings and plans for her birthday. "I don't really know what to do now Perce. We're going to Paris in a week and we're going to be spending large amounts of time together but she only wants to be friends."

Percy was quiet for a few moments. "You have to tell her how you feel dude. Now that she technically doesn't need to work for you since Zeus can support Jason, she has no obligation to stay at your company. Also, from what I've heard, she hates taking charity from you so if she knows how you feel, you can explain to her that it's you spoiling the woman you love on her birthday and now that she doesn't actually need anything from you it makes it more genuine. Whatever you do though, just tell her."

I nodded, "Her birthday falls during the time we're in Paris but after the fashion week and her brother's birthday is in four days. I already have my present for him but she would never have let me give it to him. My present for her depends on what she says after I tell her.

"The necklace?" he asked. I nodded, "The smaller more nondescript one. I don't want to scare her away by giving her the bigger one; I'll save that one for later." Percy seemed to approve of this plan, "Good luck man, you deserve it. I think she likes you too but after the pregnancy thing she was just scared and wanted to keep your relationship professional. Now things have changed, let's see how she changes. I can't believe Zeus is her dad though, now our twosome can become a threesome" Percy waggled his eyebrows which led to me kicking him underneath the table.

"You are such a pervert Jackson."

"You wouldn't have it any other way Di Angelo, you wouldn't have it any other way."

**THALIA**

"Dad is so awesome don't you think? I think he's the coolest thing since sliced bread. No seriously, He's amazing." Jason gushed as he and I made our way home after meeting with our father.

Thalia had to admit, she had already liked Zeus but she was relieved that Jason absolutely adored him, it would have been very depressing if he hadn't, because now Zeus was ready to officially take responsibility for Jason. I was a legal adult so I could do what I wanted but there had to be papers signed to hand over major guardianship to Zeus. However I had insisted on playing the role for a while longer until I was sure that Jason was 100% comfortable with it. For now all Zeus had to do was pay for child support.

That meant a lot for me. It meant that I didn't have to work for Nico anymore because the amount Zeus wanted to pay to support Jason far surpassed the amount I needed. So that meant I could take on a normal part time job and would not struggle for finances.

Jason's birthday was in a few days and it had been amazing when Zeus had mentioned it without any provocation and then gone on to talk about the day Jason was born. He had asked Jason what Jason was going to do to mark such a huge landmark…

"_So Jason, what do you think you'll do for the big birthday?" Zeus asked. _

_Jason's gaze darted to me for a second and then fell, "Oh, I think I'm going to have a few friends over and just watch some movies and have some cake and stuff." He answered. _

_Zeus raised an eyebrow at me and I felt my heart break a little, "Actually, he's coming to Paris fashion week with me because his best friend and girlfriend are going to be there with their siblings, who are good friends of mine. We were planning on staying for a week or so extra after wards just to relax."_

_Jason's face brightened up and he smiled so widely it made up for the fact that I would have to swallow my pride and accept Nico's offer. Jason hugged me tightly and exclaimed, "You're the best sister ever!"_

_Zeus smiled at us and said, "Excellent! Pluto, Poseidon and I had already planned to be there at the same time and I know Perseus, Annabeth and their children were going as well. I was going to ask if you wanted to come along and stay with me at my villa but I didn't want to seem too forward. So, what do you say?"_

_Jason's eyes were shinning so bright I thought they might pop out of his head. I was supposed to be staying with Nico for the duration of the holiday but with what had gone down between us I wasn't sure if that was a good idea anymore. "I think that's a great idea, I have to stay with Nico for the fashion week because I'll be very busy but Jason can stay with you the entire time." _

_Jason fist pumped and from then on he couldn't stop bouncing. The remaining plans were made; Jason would come to Paris with Nico and I because Zeus was coming later. Piper and Leo would already have come the day before because Silena and Beckendorf had an earlier flight. Jason would stay with Leo and Piper because Nico and I had to work then when Zeus came he'd send for Jason. At the end of the Fashion week, I would leave Nico's house and join Jason and Zeus. My birthday was later that week so I would do something with Annabeth, Silena, and the guys._

I had made up my mind, at the end of Fashion week; I planned on quitting my job as Nico's secretary because by then I would also know the result of my finals so I would be able to start my own career on the path that I choose. It was time to move on from this stage of my life. My fling with Nico was fun but I had to get serious, look for a serious relationship with someone who loved me and not my body.

**NICO**

The next week in the office was total chaos. The preparations had come to a close and now it was all about securing the jewels for transportation. That was always difficult. My father, Thalia and I had taken to dividing and conquering and although getting everything organised and ready was supposed to be a full time job, my mind was always on Thalia, constantly.

We still spoke in an amicable tone, still shared and laughed at most of our inside jokes. I kept it clean only for her sake because I knew what she wanted and I was keen on doing everything required to keep her happy.

On the day of her brother's birthday, I gave her half of the day off which meant around double the work for me but it was worth it. It was the last day of work before Paris so the chaos was at its height but I had to handle it alone for Thalia's sake,

I finished from work at around ten pm and made my way over to her house with Jason's present. I knocked on the door and was surprised to find Zeus standing at the door. "Hey, Uncle Zeus, how are you?" I asked as I walked into the house.

"So a man can't see his own son on his birthday?" Zeus responded with a smile. I hadn't seen him this happy in a while and I was glad to see him getting along so well with his children.

"What are you doing here my boy?" Zeus asked, "Come to court my daughter?" he winked at me.

I blushed, "N-no Uncle Zeus. I, uh, came to give birthday boy a present."

Zeus chuckled but whispered to me, "Don't be a coward son, take life by the horns" at that point Thalia walked in and smiled lightly at me. "I can see it in your eyes Nico; it's very hard to hide."

I blushed more and stepped away from him, "Hey Thalia, where's Jason?"

"Jason, you have another guest!" Thalia shouted down the corridor.

"I'm coming!" he shouted back. There was the noise of a door slam and three sets of footsteps came bounding into the living room.

"Oh, hey Nico, I didn't know you were coming" Jason said as he appeared with Piper and Leo behind him

"I had a late day at work if not I would have been here earlier, but I came by to drop off your present" I said as I handed him the bag.

He peered into it and his eyes bulged out, "Dude, this is like newest Xbox that came out literally two days ago, and some of these games haven't even been released yet, how did you even get these?"

"A magician never tells his secrets," I said with a smirk. Jason dropped the bag and walked forwards to give me a hug. He used that as a decoy to whisper in my ear, "You have my blessing young Nico."

"Thanks again though dude, you're like the big brother I never had." Jason smiled and then he turned back to Leo. "Dude, I have the prototype version of Grand Theft Auto New York and Call of Duty IV." Both teenagers hi-fived and bounded back into Jason's room with Piper rolling her eyes as she followed them. The comment he made left my insides tingling with the satisfaction of having made a kid so happy. I'd never had any siblings and Jason was as close as I got to a little brother.

I turned to see Thalia watching me intently and smiled at her which made her blush lightly at being caught watching me. I didn't want to interrupt any family time so I decided to take my leave. "Well uncle, it's been nice seeing you and I am sure I'll see you in Paris?"

"Yes of course Nico, give my greetings to your father for me." Zeus said as I gave him a small hug

"See you on Sunday Thalia, I'll come and pick you and Jason up at twelve, don't be late this time." I finished with a smirk which caused Thalia to blush deeply. "Bye !" I said quickly making my way down the stairs so that Thalia didn't kill me.

Xxxx

On Sunday, I got into my black land rover and made my way over to Thalia's house. I wore a dark blue button up with black jeans and blue loafers. My Ray Ban aviators sat comfortably on my face and I felt more relaxed than I had in a long time.

I called Thalia to tell her I was on my way and I heard her commanding Jason to carry their bags down the stairs. I made my way into their flat and got the two other bags that Jason hadn't managed to carry. Just as Thalia came out I nearly dropped the bag on my foot but managed to keep my composure. She was beautiful. She wore a pair of trousers with a tank top and a blazer and managed to look like some super model on holiday. On her feet were wedged heels and on her head sat a pair of sunglasses. She walked towards me and I was mesmerised by her long and extremely thin body.

I snapped out of it as she got to where I was standing and proceeded to take the bags down the stairs. We set off once she had locked their apartment up and Jason declared he hadn't eaten so we had to stop at a Starbucks to get him some food. Thalia decided she wanted some coffee too so we all disembarked from the car and made our way into Starbucks.

I was standing on the line when Jason said, "Dude, we're inside. Take off your sunglasses." I smiled at him, "Why, am I embarrassing you?"

"No, you're embarrassing yourself and my sister." He said.

"He's not embarrassing me; in fact I think I'm going to put my sunglasses back on." Thalia played along and put her glasses back on her face."

Jason groaned at our stupidity and walked away from the line, "You know what I want so I'll be standing way over there."

Thalia and I burst into laughter and suddenly there was a click of a camera. I opened my eyes to see a man, in his mid-thirties with a large professional looking camera, standing by the doorway. He made his way over to us and introduced himself.

"Hello, I'm James Carmichael and I'm a photographer" he smiled and struck out his hand which I shook.

"Hello, I'm Nico, is there a reason why you took a picture of us?" I asked and the man nodded in response.

"You see, I photograph for designers so usually models and what not. My most recent client just so happened to be Ray Bans and I've found exactly what I want to do for their next shoot. In fact the shots I have of the two of you would be perfect for what they want but of course I can't use this without your permission." He explained.

"So wait, you're saying that he and I just unknowingly modelled for a famous eyewear designing brand and you'd like to use the shots for their next advertisement?" Thalia asked again.

"Yes, essentially, now I know this is a bit farfetched but here is my card. And if I could have your contact details that would be lovely." He finished.

Thalia just shrugged and gave him her email address. "You can contact us both there and we'll give you our final decision soon."

"Thanks a lot Ms Grace, I will be in contact" the man saluted us and then left the shop.

"That has got to be the strangest thing that's ever happened to me." I said.

"Well, those strange things usually end up being the best memories." She responded.

I nodded at that and we got our coffee and Jason's breakfast then continued our journey to the Airstrip.

xxxxx

xxxxx

THALIA

Once we got to the hotel Jason looked like his eyes were going to pop out of his head. "This is the most amazing place in the world." Nico stood at the counter chatting amicably with the manager in French.

He walked back over to me after a few moments and took a deep breath as if he had bad news, "Okay, they say that the hotel is fully booked because of the Fashion week so instead of giving us two suites they're giving me a luxury suite with a terrace and a beautiful view of the Eiffel tower." He sounded like he was trying to sell it to me; "I know this might make you uncomfortable, but it's a one bedroom suite with one bathroom" he looked down at the floor. "I tried everything but there was nothing I can do and I-"

I cut him off with a wave of my hand, "I'm sure we'll survive besides, we have a living room right? It'll be fine because I'll have my space and you'll have yours" I said reassuring myself more than him.

I didn't want him to get any ideas about us, what we had been was definitely over. No more sex no more kisses no more nothing… but is that what I really wanted? I still found him inappropriately attractive and with everything he'd done for me this past couple of months and days even, it was hard not to feel some emotions towards him. Was it worth it though if he didn't feel the same way about me? He probably just saw me as his secretary he liked to screw every once in a while… but you heard what he said, my heart argued. He told me that I meant more to him than any other secretary he'd ever had and he considered me his friend. Surely that meant something?

I glanced over at him as he spoke to the manager again; he was smiling and laughing as if the manager were an old friend. Soon, he bid the short bald headed man goodbye and turned to me. "We can go up if you're ready and I've asked him to prepare a car to take us over to Silena and Beckendorf's house, oh and the bags have been taken upstairs already."

I nodded to him and he led the way. Once we arrived at the suite I felt my breath leave my body. It was absolutely stunning. It was on the seventh floor, the most luxurious suite in the hotel and it was absolutely massive. It had a terrace which overlooked the entire Paris skyline and seemed like it was within walking distance of the Eiffel Tower. The room itself had a massive queen sized bed with many pillows and a door to the terrace. The entire apartment had neutral tones; brown, beige, white, cream and it was beautiful. Jason stood in awe but couldn't seem to muster any words as he just stood there gaping with his mouth open.

I stood looking through the large French doors that separated the living room from the terrace, "It's gorgeous," I breathed.

"I know, trust me I know." he was looking at me in a way that made me question what exactly he was referring to as gorgeous. I felt slightly uncomfortable at the thought and cleared my throat which brought Jason back down to earth. "Um, I think I should take Jason over to Silena's house now." I said awkwardly to Nico.

"Of course, let me just call Jacques to make sure the car is ready for our departure" Nico whipped out his phone and dialled the number rapidly. When the person picked up Nico slipped into French and I had to try and tune out just how delicious he looked now, try, being the active word.

Jason nudged me in the side to stop me from staring then chuckled, "Sister, you have _so_ got it bad."


End file.
